gravelly

/ˈɡɹævəli/

//ˈɡɹævəli// adj

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

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

The verdict

“gravelly” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,366. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,366
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gravelly · gravelly · English

gravelly · rank #49,366 · 10 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #49,366
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH grasse

Nearest frequency peer: grasse (-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 “gravelly”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “gravelly” 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).

gravelly vs gravely
88% similar
gravelly vs gravel
75% similar

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

Key facts for gravelly
PropertyValue
Headwordgravelly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɡɹævəli/
Letters8
Frequency rank#49,366
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gravelly”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gravellylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “grasse” (#49,365), “Grenadines” (#49,368), “godson” (#49,363). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gravelly” is #49,366. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around gravelly (IPA /ˈɡɹævəli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #49,366 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for gravelly, with forms such as "garvelly", "ggravelly", and "graevlly". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "gravely", "gravel", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gravelli (“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”), from gravel (“sand; grain of stand; gravel, pebbles; (pathology) sand-like matter in the urine, calculus”) + -lī (suffix forming adjectives). Gravel is de… The correct English form is gravelly, spelled G-R-A-V-E-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.
  2. 2
    Of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping.
  3. 3
    Caused by or involving gravel (“kidney stones”).
  4. 4
    Full of or covered with sand; sandy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The dung which men make […] is greatly miſlyked, for that by nature it is hoter and burneth the ſeedes ſowne in that earth: ſo that this is not to bee uſed, unleſſe the ground be a barren, grauelly or verie louſe ſand, lacking ſtrength in it, which being on ſuche wiſe, requyreth the more helpe of nouriſhment and fatning, through this kinde of dung: […]
  2. This earth, however, is not to be ſuppoſed entirely pure, but is mixed with much ſtony and gravelly matter, from the layers lying immediately beneath it. It generally happens, that the ſoil is fertile in proportion to the quantity that this putrified mold bears to the gravelly mixture; and as the former predominates, ſo far is the vegetation upon it more…

Etymology

From Middle English gravelli (“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”), from gravel (“sand; grain of stand; gravel, pebbles; (pathology) sand-like matter in the urine, calculus”) + -lī (suffix forming adjectives). Gravel is derived from Old French gravel, gravele, gravelle (“gravel; (pathology) calculus”) (modern French gravelle (“(pathology) calculus”)), from grave (“coarse sand, gravel; seashore”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”); modern French grève (“riverbank; shore, strand”)) + -ele (diminutive suffix). The English word is analysable as gravel + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

This word in other languages

áspero(Español)graveleux(Français)kiesig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • garvelly
  • ggravelly
  • graevlly
  • gravellyy
  • gravelyl
  • gravlely
  • gravvelly
  • grravelly
  • grvaelly
  • rgavelly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gravelly - 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.

garvelly2ggravelly1graevlly2gravellyy1gravelyl2gravlely2gravvelly1grravelly1
Edit distance from "gravelly"

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 "gravelly"?
"gravelly" is spelled G-R-A-V-E-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɹævəli/.
What does "gravelly" mean?
As an adjective, "gravelly" means: Full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.
What words are commonly confused with "gravelly"?
"gravelly" is commonly confused with "gravely", "gravel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gravelly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gravelly" is /ˈɡɹævəli/. 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 "gravelly"?
From Middle English gravelli (“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”), from gravel (“sand; grain of stand; gravel, pebbles; (pathology) sand-like matter in the urine, calculus”) + -lī (suffix forming adjectives). Gr... 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 "gravelly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

glabrous#49,359gangland#49,348Gabriele#49,347frigging#49,342

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

freefall10 variantsdogwood10 variantsjoinery10 variantsdaffodil10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list