guru
/ˈɡʊɹuː/
"guru" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“guru” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,340 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,340
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
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 | guru |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡʊɹuː/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #9,340 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “guru” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for guru is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡʊɹuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,340 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for guru, with forms such as "gguru", "gruu", and "gurru". 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, "guy", "gut", "Gus", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Hindi गुरु (guru) / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve and, more distantly, brute. Doublet of grave. A traditional, though flawed etymology b… The correct English form is guru, spelled G-U-R-U.
Definition
- 1In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
- 2Any general teacher (as a term of respect).
- 3An influential advisor or mentor.
- 4A fraudster or conman relying on a projected air of confidence in an obscure field.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi गुरु (guru) / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve and, more distantly, brute. Doublet of grave. A traditional, though flawed etymology based on the Advayataraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as “darkness” and ru as “destroyer”, thus ascribing the meaning of “one who destroys/dispels darkness” to the word.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: gguru,gruu,gurru,guur,ugru
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of guru - 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.
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 “guru”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-U-R-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡʊɹuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “guy” - see the side-by-side comparison. guru vs guy
- 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.