gumbo
/ˈɡʌm.boʊ/
"gumbo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gumbo” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,657. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,657
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Synonym of okra: the plant or its edible capsules.
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 | gumbo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #41,657 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gumbo” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around gumbo (IPA /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,657 among 18,276 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for gumbo, with forms such as "ggumbo", "gmubo", and "gubmo". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Guo", "gums", "gump", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Louisiana French gombo, possibly via Louisiana Creole gombo, from Kimbundu ingombo, plural of kingombo (“okra”); compare Portuguese quingombó. The correct English form is gumbo, spelled G-U-M-B-O.
Definition
- 1Synonym of okra: the plant or its edible capsules.
- 2A soup or stew popular in Louisiana, consisting of a strong stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener (often okra), and the "Holy Trinity" of celery, bell peppers, and onions.
- 3A fine silty soil that when wet becomes very thick and heavy.
Etymology
Borrowed from Louisiana French gombo, possibly via Louisiana Creole gombo, from Kimbundu ingombo, plural of kingombo (“okra”); compare Portuguese quingombó.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ggumbo
- gmubo
- gubmo
- gumbbo
- gummbo
- gumob
- ugmbo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gumbo - 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 “gumbo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-U-M-B-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Guo” - see the side-by-side comparison. gumbo vs Guo
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.