glyphvsglyphsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“glyph” and “glyphs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,646
“glyph” frequency rank
#43,169
“glyphs” frequency rank
84815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature glyph glyphs
Definition A figure carved in relief or incised, especially representing a sound, word, or idea. plural of glyph

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set glyph and glyphs apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
glyph
6 ch
glyphs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. glyph (/ɡlɪf/) and glyphs (/ɡlɪfs/) 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 extra letter(s) - “glyph” sits inside “glyphs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

glyph is recorded at frequency rank #41,646, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡlɪf/. glyphs is at rank #43,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡlɪfs/.

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 84815, this pair ranks #11,428 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of glyph vs glyphs

Shared letters: ghlpy. Private to "glyph": -. Private to "glyphs": s.

"glyph" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "glyphs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • glyphgglyph · gllyph · glpyh · glyhp · glyphh · glypph · glyyph · gylph
  • glyphsgglyphs · gllyphs · glpyhs · glyhps · glyphhs · glyphss · glypphs · glypsh

Frequency comparison

glyph#41,646
glyphs#43,169

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "glyph" and "glyphs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɡlɪf/ versus /ɡlɪfs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "glyph" or "glyphs"?
"glyph" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,646 in our English list, against #43,169 for "glyphs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering glyph vs glyphs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “glyph” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list