griffe
\ɡʁif\
The verdict
“griffe” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #17,722 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,722
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ongle crochu, pointu et mobile de certains animaux, tels que le tigre, le lion, le chat, etc., ou d’un oiseau de proie, comme l’épervier, le faucon, etc.
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 | griffe |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡʁif\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,722 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “griffe” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for griffe is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡʁif\. Corpus data places it at rank #17,722 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for griffe, with forms such as "ggriffe", "girffe", and "grfife". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "grise", "Grille", "grippe", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is griffe, spelled G-R-I-F-F-E.
Definition
- 1Ongle crochu, pointu et mobile de certains animaux, tels que le tigre, le lion, le chat, etc., ou d’un oiseau de proie, comme l’épervier, le faucon, etc.
- 2Extrémité de la patte des animaux pourvus de griffes.
- 3Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
- 4Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
- 5Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
- 6Outil de marquage ou de martelage, laissant des griffures sur les troncs.
- 7Pièce de fer refendue dans laquelle on engage une latte de fer rouge dont ou veut faire quelqu’enroulement
- 8Éraflure sur un objet ou égratignure sur la peau.
- 9Caïeux de renoncule, d’anémone, etc., à cause de la ressemblance qu’ils ont avec les griffes d’animaux.
- 10Appendice crochu à l’aide duquel certaines plantes grimpantes, par exemple le lierre, s’attachent au corps qui les soutient.
- 11Divers outils dont se servent les doreurs, les tapissiers, les tourneurs, etc. Il se dit spécialement d’une empreinte imitant la signature d’une personne et de l’Instrument qui sert à faire cette empreinte.
- 12Marque commerciale.
- 13Marque à laquelle on reconnaît la manière d’un écrivain, d’un artiste.
- 14Signature ou style calligraphique propre à un graffeur.
- 15Pouvoir qu’une personne exerce injustement ou avec dureté sur une autre, de la rapacité des gens de chicane, etc.
- 16Outil servant à marquer profondément le zinc pour en faciliter le pliage.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggriffe,girffe,grfife,grife,grifef,grriffe,rgiffe
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of griffe - 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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "griffe"?
What does "griffe" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "griffe"?
How do you pronounce "griffe"?
What language does "griffe" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “griffe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-R-I-F-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡʁif\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “grise” - see the side-by-side comparison. griffe vs grise
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.