grudge
/ɡɹʌd͡ʒ/
"grudge" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grudge” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,842 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,842
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Deep-seated and/or long-term animosity or ill will about something or someone, especially due to perceived mistreatment.
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 | grudge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡɹʌd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #18,842 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grudge” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for grudge is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡɹʌd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,842 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Deep-seated and/or long-term animosity or ill will about something or someone, especially due to perceived mistreatment.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for grudge, with forms such as "ggrudge", "grduge", and "grrudge". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "grunge", "grudges", "grade", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: A variant of grutch (mid 15th-century, younger than begrudge), from Middle English grucchen (“to murmur, complain, feel envy, begrudge”), from Old French grouchier, groucier (“to murmur, grumble”), of Germanic origin, probably ultimately imitative. Akin to … The correct English form is grudge, spelled G-R-U-D-G-E.
Definition
- 1Deep-seated and/or long-term animosity or ill will about something or someone, especially due to perceived mistreatment.
Etymology
A variant of grutch (mid 15th-century, younger than begrudge), from Middle English grucchen (“to murmur, complain, feel envy, begrudge”), from Old French grouchier, groucier (“to murmur, grumble”), of Germanic origin, probably ultimately imitative. Akin to Middle High German grogezen (“to howl, wail”), German grocken (“to croak”). Compare also Old Norse krytja (“to murmur”), Old High German grunzen (“to grunt”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggrudge,grduge,grrudge,gruddge,grudeg,grudgge,grugde,gurdge,rgudge
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grudge - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “grudge”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-U-D-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡɹʌd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “grunge” - see the side-by-side comparison. grudge vs grunge
- 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.