# glad

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ɡlæd/ · frequency rank #1,342

## Definitions
1. Pleased; happy; gratified.
2. Having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness.

## Etymology
From Middle English glad, gled, from Old English glæd (“shining; bright; cheerful; glad”), from Proto-Germanic *gladaz (“shiny; gleaming; radiant; happy; glossy; smooth; flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰladʰ-, from *ǵʰelh₂- (“to shine”).
Cognate with Scots gled, glaid (“shining; bright; glad”), Saterland Frisian glääd (“smooth; sleek”), West Frisian glêd (“smooth”), Dutch glad (“smooth; sleek; slippery”), German glatt (“smooth; sleek; slippery”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish glad (“glad; happy; cheerful”), Icelandic glaður (“glad; joyful; cheery”), Latin glaber (“smooth; hairless; bald”), Russian гла́дкий (gládkij, “smooth”). Doublet of glatt.

## Easily confused with
- **god** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-god)
- **GTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gta)
- **GPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gpa)
- **Goa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-goa)
- **gma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gma)
- **GSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gsa)
- **GLO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-glo)
- **good** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-good)
- **gold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gold)
- **goal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-goal)
- **grab** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-grab)
- **gray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gray)
- **grid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-grid)
- **goat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-goat)
- **glow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-glow)
- **glen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-glen)
- **glue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-glue)
- **gram** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gram)
- **grad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-grad)
- **glee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-glee)

## Common misspellings (6)
`gald`, `gglad`, `gladd`, `glda`, `gllad`, `lgad`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/glad