grimy
/ˈɡɹaɪmi/
"grimy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grimy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,870 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #38,870
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Stained or covered with grime.
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 | grimy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹaɪmi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #38,870 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grimy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for grimy is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡɹaɪmi/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,870 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for grimy, with forms such as "ggrimy", "girmy", and "grimmy". 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, "grip", "grin", "grit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From grime + -y. The correct English form is grimy, spelled G-R-I-M-Y.
Definition
- 1Stained or covered with grime.
- 2From the urban musical genre called grime.
- 3Morally corrupt, malicious, vile, or selfish; base or dirty; rotten.
- 4Of a beat or song, darkly atmospheric; having affinities with the style of the East Coast hip hop of the 90s, especially that of New York.
Etymology
From grime + -y.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggrimy,girmy,grimmy,grimyy,griym,grmiy,grrimy,rgimy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grimy - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "grimy"?
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Using “grimy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-I-M-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɹaɪmi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “grip” - see the side-by-side comparison. grimy vs grip
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.