grief

/ɡɹiːf/

//ɡɹiːf// noun

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

"grief" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“grief” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,251. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,251
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Suffering, hardship.

Corpus desk

Index EN-grief · grief · English

grief · rank #6,251 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,251
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH glorious

Nearest frequency peer: glorious (-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 “grief”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “grief” 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).

grief vs grip
60% similar
grief vs grim
60% similar
grief vs grin
60% similar

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

Key facts for grief
PropertyValue
Headwordgrief
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɹiːf/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,251
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “grief”

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).grieflands 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 “glorious” (#6,250), “Harrison” (#6,252), “gently” (#6,249). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “grief” is #6,251. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around grief (IPA /ɡɹiːf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,251 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for grief, with forms such as "ggrief", "giref", and "greif". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "grip", "grim", "grin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave. The correct English form is grief, spelled G-R-I-E-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Suffering, hardship.
  2. 2
    Emotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness.
  3. 3
    A cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; a trial.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The neighbour's teenagers give me grief every time they see me.
  2. She was worn out from so much grief.

Etymology

From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave.

This word in other languages

pesar(Español)douleur(Français)Kummer(Deutsch)pesar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggrief
  • giref
  • greif
  • grieff
  • grife
  • grrief
  • rgief

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grief - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ggrief1giref2greif2grieff1grife2grrief1rgief2
Edit distance from "grief"

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 "grief"?
"grief" is spelled G-R-I-E-F. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɹiːf/.
What does "grief" mean?
As a noun, "grief" means: Suffering, hardship.
What words are commonly confused with "grief"?
"grief" is commonly confused with "grip", "grim", "grin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "grief"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grief" is /ɡɹiːf/. 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 "grief"?
From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave. 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 "grief", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

freak#6,246fairy#6,242lined#6,263lodge#6,264

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

essays7 variantsmerit7 variantsmicro7 variantsmyth7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list