grateful

/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/

//ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"grateful" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“grateful” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,947. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,947
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.

Corpus desk

Index EN-grateful · grateful · English

grateful · rank #3,947 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,947
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gorgeous

Nearest frequency peer: gorgeous (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “grateful”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “grateful” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

grateful vs gratefully
80% similar
grateful vs graceful
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for grateful
PropertyValue
Headwordgrateful
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,947
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “grateful”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).gratefullands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “gorgeous” (#3,946), “heroes” (#3,948), “fancy” (#3,945). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “grateful” is #3,947. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around grateful (IPA /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #3,947 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for grateful, with forms such as "garteful", "ggrateful", and "graetful". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "gratefully", "graceful", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, pleasing; … The correct English form is grateful, spelled G-R-A-T-E-F-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
  2. 2
    Of a thing or (obsolete) person: pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable, pleasant, welcome.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how grateful appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I’m grateful that you helped me out.
  2. I cannot giue thee leſſe to be cal'd gratefull: / Thou thoughtſt to helpe me, and ſuch thankes I giue, / As one neere death to thoſe that vviſh him liue: […]

Etymology

From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, pleasing; beloved, dear; grateful, thankful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to express approval, praise; to elevate”).

This word in other languages

agradecido(Español)reconnaissant(Français)dankbar(Deutsch)agradecido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • garteful
  • ggrateful
  • graetful
  • gratefful
  • grateflu
  • gratefull
  • grateufl
  • gratfeul
  • gratteful
  • grrateful
  • grtaeful
  • rgateful

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grateful - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

garteful2ggrateful1graetful2gratefful1grateflu2gratefull1grateufl2gratfeul2
Edit distance from "grateful"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "grateful"?
"grateful" is spelled G-R-A-T-E-F-U-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/.
What does "grateful" mean?
As an adjective, "grateful" means: Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
What words are commonly confused with "grateful"?
"grateful" is commonly confused with "gratefully", "graceful". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "grateful"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grateful" is /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "grateful"?
From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "grateful", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gorgeous#3,946indicate#3,952discount#3,938operated#3,965

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

preferred12 variantsreporter12 variantssequence12 variantsstretch12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list