Which to use
“glad” is an adjective and “gland” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,342
- “glad” frequency rank
- #17,620
- “gland” frequency rank
- 18962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glad | gland |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pleased; happy; gratified. | A specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set glad and gland apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
glad and gland form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
glad is recorded at frequency rank #1,342, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɡlæd/. gland is at rank #17,620, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡlænd/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 18962, this pair ranks #441,427 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "glad" and "gland" be used interchangeably?
Remembering glad vs gland
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “glad”; for a noun, it's “gland”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “glad” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable