guest

/ɡɛst/

//ɡɛst// noun

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

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

The verdict

“guest” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,579. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,579
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.

Corpus desk

Index EN-guest · guest · English

guest · rank #2,579 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,579
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH frame

Nearest frequency peer: frame (-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 “guest”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “guest” 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).

guest vs gut
60% similar
guest vs Gus
40% similar
guest vs guys
60% similar

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

Key facts for guest
PropertyValue
Headwordguest
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɛst/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,579
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “guest”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).guestlands 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 “frame” (#2,578), “ha” (#2,580), “flag” (#2,577). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “guest” is #2,579. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around guest (IPA /ɡɛst/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,579 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for guest, with forms such as "geust", "gguest", and "guesst". 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, "gut", "Gus", "guys", 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 gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”). C… The correct English form is guest, spelled G-U-E-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.
  2. 2
    A patron or customer in a hotel etc.
  3. 3
    An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.
  4. 4
    A user given temporary access to a system despite not having an account of their own.
  5. 5
    Any insect that lives in the nest of another without compulsion and usually not as a parasite.
  6. 6
    An inquiline.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The guests were let in by the butler.
  2. We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.

Etymology

From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”). Cognate with Bavarian Gåst (“guest”), Dutch gast (“guest”), German Gast (“guest”), Luxembourgish Gaascht (“guest”), Vilamovian gost (“guest”), Yiddish גאַסט (gast, “guest”), Danish gæst (“guest, visitor”), Faroese, Icelandic gestur (“guest”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk gjest (“guest”), Swedish gäst (“guest”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts, “guest”). Doublet of host, from Latin.

This word in other languages

huésped(Español)invité(Français)Gast(Deutsch)hóspede(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • geust
  • gguest
  • guesst
  • guestt
  • guets
  • guset
  • ugest

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

geust2gguest1guesst1guestt1guets2guset2ugest2
Edit distance from "guest"

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 "guest"?
"guest" is spelled G-U-E-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɛst/.
What does "guest" mean?
As a noun, "guest" means: A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.
What words are commonly confused with "guest"?
"guest" is commonly confused with "gut", "Gus", "guys". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "guest"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guest" is /ɡɛst/. 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 "guest"?
From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospit... 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 "guest", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

frame#2,578favor#2,576it'll#2,584admit#2,567

Similar misspelling depth

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

tools7 variantsSpain7 variantsteeth7 variantsrural7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list