guess

/ɡɛs/

//ɡɛs// verb

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

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

The verdict

“guess” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #694. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#694
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To reach a partly (or totally) unconfirmed conclusion; to engage in conjecture; to speculate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-guess · guess · English

guess · rank #694 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #694
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gone

Nearest frequency peer: gone (-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 “guess”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “guess” 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).

guess vs Gus
40% similar
guess vs guys
60% similar
guess vs guns
60% similar

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

Key facts for guess
PropertyValue
Headwordguess
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɡɛs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#694
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “guess”

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “gone” (#693), “interest” (#695), “gold” (#692). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “guess” is #694. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around guess (IPA /ɡɛs/), averb. Corpus frequency is #694 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 guess, with forms such as "geuss", "gguess", and "gues". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Gus", "guys", "guns", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gessen (verb) and Middle English gesse (noun), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitisōną (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“… The correct English form is guess, spelled G-U-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    To reach a partly (or totally) unconfirmed conclusion; to engage in conjecture; to speculate.
  2. 2
    To solve by a correct conjecture; to conjecture rightly.
  3. 3
    To suppose, to imagine (introducing a proposition of uncertain plausibility).
  4. 4
    To think, conclude, or decide (without a connotation of uncertainty). Usually in first person: "I guess".
  5. 5
    To hit upon or reproduce by memory.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We can only guess at what was going through her mind.
  2. She guessed that the delivery driver must have got stuck in traffic.

Etymology

From Middle English gessen (verb) and Middle English gesse (noun), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitisōną (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to get”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Danish gisne (“to guess”), Norwegian gissa, gjette (“to guess”), Swedish gissa (“to guess”), Saterland Frisian gisje (“to guess”), Dutch gissen (“to guess”), Low German gissen (“to guess”), Dutch gis (“a guess”). Related also to Icelandic giska ("to guess"; from Proto-Germanic *gitiskōną). Compare also Russian гада́ть (gadátʹ, “to conjecture, guess, divine”), Albanian gjëzë (“riddle”) from gjej (“find, recover, obtain”). More at get.

Synonyms

assumeconjecturehypothesizespeculatesupposesurmisetake a stab

This word in other languages

adivinar(Español)deviner(Français)schätzen(Deutsch)adivinhar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • geuss
  • gguess
  • gues
  • guses
  • ugess

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of guess - 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.

geuss2gguess1gues1guses2ugess2
Edit distance from "guess"

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 "guess"?
"guess" is spelled G-U-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɛs/.
What does "guess" mean?
As a verb, "guess" means: To reach a partly (or totally) unconfirmed conclusion; to engage in conjecture; to speculate.
What words are commonly confused with "guess"?
"guess" is commonly confused with "Gus", "guys", "guns". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "guess"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guess" is /ɡɛs/. 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 "guess"?
From Middle English gessen (verb) and Middle English gesse (noun), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitisōną (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic ... 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 "guess", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

girls#691learn#698added#701alone#703

Similar misspelling depth

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

gone5 variantshour5 variantspress5 variantsview5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list