greaser

noun

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

"greaser" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“greaser” is uncommon English (frequency #82,352 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,352
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone or something that greases (applies grease).

Corpus desk

Index EN-greaser · greaser · English

greaser · rank #82,352 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,352
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH grazer

Nearest frequency peer: grazer (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “greaser”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “greaser” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for greaser
PropertyValue
Headwordgreaser
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#82,352
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “greaser” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).greaserfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “grazer” (#82,351), “Guilfoyle” (#82,355), “Graber” (#82,348). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “greaser” is #82,352. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

greaser is uncommon English at frequency #82,352 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

greaser has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From grease + -er. Applied to mechanics because they frequently become greasy during the course of their work. Applied to toughs because they frequently greased their hair, and, like greaseball, to Italians for the same reason. Applied to Mexicans because, … The correct English form is greaser, spelled G-R-E-A-S-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone or something that greases (applies grease).
  2. 2
    A mechanic.
  3. 3
    A biker, a tough.
  4. 4
    A rocker or metalhead, especially one who listens to 1950s rock and roll or 1980s thrash metal.
  5. 5
    A very soft landing.
  6. 6
    A Latin American, especially a Mexican.
  7. 7
    An Italian.
  8. 8
    A Greek.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The pole was greased and men tried to walk out to the end of it and dislodge the crate. The pole was supple, the crate swayed as each man crept out clinging desperately and finally fell off into the sea. […] People roared with laughter and greasers applied fresh grease for the next person's try.
  2. ... incidentally, our correspondent tells of a West Indian who applied for a job at Kings Cross as motion greaser - but with no idea of what he would have to grease and why. Invited to find out and return within a month, he did, and nowadays the Kings Cross engines are as efficiently greased as any on B.R.

Etymology

From grease + -er. Applied to mechanics because they frequently become greasy during the course of their work. Applied to toughs because they frequently greased their hair, and, like greaseball, to Italians for the same reason. Applied to Mexicans because, at the time the phrase originated, they commonly worked greasing the axles of carts.

This word in other languages

graisseur(Français)

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 "greaser"?
"greaser" is spelled G-R-E-A-S-E-R.
What does "greaser" mean?
As a noun, "greaser" means: Someone or something that greases (applies grease).
What is the origin of the word "greaser"?
From grease + -er. Applied to mechanics because they frequently become greasy during the course of their work. Applied to toughs because they frequently greased their hair, and, like greaseball, to Italians for the same reason. Applied to Mexicans... 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 "greaser", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Guillen#82,356Gowanus#82,347gumshoe#82,358Gohmert#82,341

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list