gulf
/ɡʌlf/noun, verb
gulf is spelled G-U-L-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,444th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “golf vs gulf” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, gulf means “A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gulf is gulfs.
How many letters and syllables are in gulf?
| Letters | 4: G-U-L-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,444th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is gulf?
Gulf appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,444th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gulf?
- /ɡʌlf/
- /ɡɒlf/
Gulf has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gulf.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gulf
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of gulf
- gulfs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- gulph
- gulfing participle, present
- gulfed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gulf mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
- 2
obsoleteThat which swallows; the gullet.
- 3
That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
- 4
A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea
the Gulf of Mexico
- 5
A large deposit of ore in a lode.
- 6
A wide interval or gap; a separating space.
- 7
A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.
- 8
The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed.
verb
- 1
To engulf.
- 2
To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gulf in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense geography:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gulf come from?
From Middle English gulf, goulf, golf, from Old French golf, from Italian golfo, from Late Latin colfos, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, gulf”), of obscure origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (“to curve, arch”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).