groan
/ɡɹəʊn/
"groan" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“groan” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,771 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #24,771
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
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 | groan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡɹəʊn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #24,771 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “groan” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for groan is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡɹəʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,771 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for groan, with forms such as "ggroan", "goran", and "graon". 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, "grow", "guan", "grog", 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 gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”). Cognate with Scots grain… The correct English form is groan, spelled G-R-O-A-N.
Definition
- 1A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
- 2A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.
- 3A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.
Etymology
From Middle English gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”). Cognate with Scots grain (“to cry, scream”), Dutch grijnen, grienen (“to cry; sob; blubber”), German Low German grienen (“to whimper; mewl”), German greinen (“to whine; whimper”), Swedish grina (“to howl; weep; laugh”). The noun is from Middle English gron, grone, from the verb.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggroan,goran,graon,groann,grona,grroan,rgoan
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of groan - 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
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Using “groan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-O-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡɹəʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “grow” - see the side-by-side comparison. groan vs grow
- 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.