grime

/ɡɹaɪm/

//ɡɹaɪm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“grime” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,779. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,779
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.

Corpus desk

Index EN-grime · grime · English

grime · rank #25,779 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,779
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gravely

Nearest frequency peer: gravely (-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 “grime”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “grime” 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).

grime vs grip
60% similar
grime vs grin
60% similar
grime vs grit
60% similar

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

Key facts for grime
PropertyValue
Headwordgrime
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɹaɪm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,779
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “grime”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “gravely” (#25,778), “Granville” (#25,777), “Hanley” (#25,781). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “grime” is #25,779. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around grime (IPA /ɡɹaɪm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,779 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for grime, with forms such as "ggrime", "girme", and "griem". 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", "grin", "grit", 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 grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized use of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-West Germanic *grīmō, from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”). Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”), Dutch gri… The correct English form is grime, spelled G-R-I-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.
  2. 2
    A genre of urban music that emerged in London, England, in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Underneath all that soot, dirt and grime is the true beauty of the church in soft shades of sandstone.
  2. […] ſhe ſweats a man may go ouer ſhoes in the grime of it.

Etymology

From Middle English grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized use of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-West Germanic *grīmō, from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”). Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”), Dutch grijm (“soot, grime”), Middle Dutch gryme (“mask”), Middle Low German greme (“dirt”), compare Danish grime (“a halter”), Danish grimet (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Bokmål grimete (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Nynorsk grimete (“soiled, stripy”).

This word in other languages

mugre(Español)crasse(Français)Schmutz(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggrime
  • girme
  • griem
  • grimme
  • grmie
  • grrime
  • rgime

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grime - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggrime1girme2griem2grimme1grmie2grrime1rgime2
Edit distance from "grime"

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 "grime"?
"grime" is spelled G-R-I-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɹaɪm/.
What does "grime" mean?
As a noun, "grime" means: Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.
What words are commonly confused with "grime"?
"grime" is commonly confused with "grip", "grin", "grit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "grime"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grime" is /ɡɹaɪm/. 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 "grime"?
From Middle English grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized use of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-West Germanic *grīmō, from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”). Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”),... 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 "grime", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Goers#25,776heron#25,783foyer#25,764inert#25,796

Similar misspelling depth

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

Enoch7 variantsLeung7 variantslumen7 variantsmarred7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list