grotesque

\ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\

/\ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“grotesque” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #16,143. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,143
frequency rank, French
2,617
“G” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Très orné, voire ampoulé, à la manière des fresques romaines découvertes à la Renaissance.

Corpus desk

Index FR-grotesque · grotesque · French

grotesque · rank #16,143 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #16,143
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,617
  • PHOTO-FINISH groupements

Nearest frequency peer: groupements (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « grotesque »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « grotesque » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

grotesque vs grotesques
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for grotesque
PropertyValue
Headwordgrotesque
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\
Letters9
Frequency rank#16,143
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « grotesque »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.grotesquese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « groupements » (#16,144), « gangs » (#16,141), « fronts » (#16,140). Parmi 2,617 lemmes en « G », « grotesque » est au #16,143. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around grotesque (IPA \ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,143 among 2,617 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for grotesque, with forms such as "ggrotesque", "gortesque", and "groetsque". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "grotesques", 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 its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is grotesque, spelled G-R-O-T-E-S-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Très orné, voire ampoulé, à la manière des fresques romaines découvertes à la Renaissance.
  2. 2
    Bizarre ; extravagant ; invraisemblable.
  3. 3
    Bouffon, excentrique, burlesque, caricatural, cocasse ou risible.
  4. 4
    Outrancier et de mauvais goût.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how grotesque appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Dans la grande salle qui précède, il y a des boiseries grotesques représentant des métiers, des masques, des dominos, tout un carnaval en bois.
  2. Armé d’un chalumeau, le gnome absorbait à même le ruisseau la boisson répandue. C’était grotesque, révoltant.

This word in other languages

grotesque(English)grotesco(Español)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggrotesque
  • gortesque
  • groetsque
  • groteqsue
  • grotesqeu
  • grotesqque
  • grotessque
  • grotesuqe
  • grotseque
  • grottesque
  • grrotesque
  • grtoesque
  • rgotesque

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grotesque - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggrotesque1gortesque2groetsque2groteqsue2grotesqeu2grotesqque1grotessque1grotesuqe2
Edit distance from "grotesque"

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 "grotesque"?
"grotesque" is spelled G-R-O-T-E-S-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\.
What does "grotesque" mean?
As an adjective, "grotesque" means: Très orné, voire ampoulé, à la manière des fresques romaines découvertes à la Renaissance.
What words are commonly confused with "grotesque"?
"grotesque" is commonly confused with "grotesques". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "grotesque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grotesque" is \ɡʁɔ.tɛsk\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "grotesque" come from?
"grotesque" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "grotesque", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

forcement#16,136inclusion#16,152indiennes#16,153figurines#16,131

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

flandres13 variantsinterpelle13 variantsexactions13 variantsentrevoir13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list