griffe

/\ɡʁif\/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#17,722

in French word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

15

similar word pairs

griffe is aFrenchnoun. It means: 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. Pronounced \ɡʁif\. Often confused with grise and Grille.

Key facts for griffe
PropertyValue
Headwordgriffe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡʁif\
Letters6
Frequency rank#17,722
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of griffe in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for griffe is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for griffe, with forms such as "ggriffe", "girffe", and "grfife". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "grise", "Grille", "grippe", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is griffe, spelled G-R-I-F-F-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    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.
  2. 2
    Extrémité de la patte des animaux pourvus de griffes.
  3. 3
    Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
  4. 4
    Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
  5. 5
    Ce qui présente une ressemblance de forme avec l’extrémité de la patte des animaux.
  6. 6
    Outil de marquage ou de martelage, laissant des griffures sur les troncs.
  7. 7
    Pièce de fer refendue dans laquelle on engage une latte de fer rouge dont ou veut faire quelqu’enroulement
  8. 8
    Éraflure sur un objet ou égratignure sur la peau.
  9. 9
    Caïeux de renoncule, d’anémone, etc., à cause de la ressemblance qu’ils ont avec les griffes d’animaux.
  10. 10
    Appendice crochu à l’aide duquel certaines plantes grimpantes, par exemple le lierre, s’attachent au corps qui les soutient.
  11. 11
    Divers 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.
  12. 12
    Marque commerciale.
  13. 13
    Marque à laquelle on reconnaît la manière d’un écrivain, d’un artiste.
  14. 14
    Signature ou style calligraphique propre à un graffeur.
  15. 15
    Pouvoir qu’une personne exerce injustement ou avec dureté sur une autre, de la rapacité des gens de chicane, etc.
  16. 16
    Outil 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

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for griffe

Misspelling Variants of "griffe"

ggriffe7girffe6grfife6grife5grifef6grriffe7rgiffe6
Misspelling Variants of "griffe"

Frequency rank: #17,722 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "griffe"?
"griffe" is spelled G-R-I-F-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡʁif\.
What does "griffe" mean?
As a noun, "griffe" means: 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.
What words are commonly confused with "griffe"?
"griffe" is commonly confused with "grise", "Grille", "grippe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "griffe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "griffe" is \ɡʁif\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "griffe" come from?
"griffe" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter G in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.