ginga
The verdict
“ginga” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #40,157 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #40,157
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - remo que vai à popa de uma embarcação; zinga
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 | ginga |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #40,157 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ginga” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for ginga is 5 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #40,157 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 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 ginga, with forms such as "gginga", "gigna", and "ginag". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "gira", "going", "gonna", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is ginga, spelled G-I-N-G-A.
Definition
- 1remo que vai à popa de uma embarcação; zinga
- 2espécie de remo em formato de vara que proporciona impulso ao barco ao ser fincado no leito do rio; zinga, varejão
- 3movimento de balançar-se; meneio
- 4movimento de corpo em que se faz com ele baloiço de um lado para outro deslocando-se os pés, tronco e mãos em um contínuo sinuoso
- 5qualquer movimento de balanço do corpo em que se movimenta a coluna e o quadril
- 6malícia, astúcia
- 7drible
- 8movimento de zigue-zague que se faz ao avançar com a bola
- 9bicicleta; ndjinga
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: gginga,gigna,ginag,gingga,ginnga,gniga,ignga
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ginga - 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 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "ginga"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “ginga”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is G-I-N-G-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “gira” - see the side-by-side comparison. ginga vs gira
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese 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.