grim
/ɡɹɪm/
"grim" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grim” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,390. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,390
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
Corpus desk
Index EN-grim · grim · English
grim · rank #11,390 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,390
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH ghetto
Nearest frequency peer: ghetto (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “grim”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- footsteps
footsteps
88,614 corpus weight
- forestry
forestry
88,613 corpus weight
- ghetto
ghetto
88,612 corpus weight
- grim
grim
88,611 corpus weight
- helpless
helpless
88,610 corpus weight
- hemisphere
hemisphere
88,609 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “grim” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grim |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɡɹɪm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,390 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grim” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around grim (IPA /ɡɹɪm/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #11,390 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for grim, with forms such as "ggrim", "girm", and "grmi". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gym", "gum", "GUI", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English grim, from Old English grimm, from Proto-West Germanic *grimm, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). The correct English form is grim, spelled G-R-I-M.
Definition
- 1Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
- 2Rigid and unrelenting.
- 3Ghastly or sinister.
- 4Disgusting; gross.
- 5Fierce, cruel, furious.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how grim appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
Developments were markedly different in the Soviet zone, but ultimately ended in perhaps an even grimmer dead end: that of SED leader Walter Ulbricht’s thoroughly Stalinized German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Etymology
From Middle English grim, from Old English grimm, from Proto-West Germanic *grimm, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ggrim
- girm
- grmi
- grrim
- rgim
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grim - 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.
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 "grim"?
What does "grim" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "grim"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "grim", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "grim". Here's where to go from here.
- "grim" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "gym". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #11,390 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "G" letter cohort. G–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.