Which to use
“glances” and “glands” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,476
- “glances” frequency rank
- #17,371
- “glands” frequency rank
- 44847
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glances | glands |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of glance | plural of gland |
Where the eye mixes glances and glands
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. glances runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against glands's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: glances vs glands
A purely visual mix-up. glances (/ˈɡlænsɪz/) and glands (/ɡlændz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44847, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
glances is recorded at frequency rank #27,476, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡlænsɪz/. glands is at rank #17,371, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡlændz/.
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 44847, this pair ranks #226,774 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of glances vs glands
Shared letters: aglns. Private to "glances": ce. Private to "glands": d.
"glances" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "glands" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "glances" for "glands" ever safe?
Frequency check: "glances" vs "glands" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "glances" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "glands" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,774 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glances" and "glands" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glades vs glances". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #226,774 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.