gladness

/ˈɡlædnəs/

//ˈɡlædnəs// noun

"gladness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gladness” is uncommon English (frequency #54,202 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,202
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being glad; joy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gladness · gladness · English

gladness · rank #54,202 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,202
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH ghostwriter

Nearest frequency peer: ghostwriter (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “gladness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “gladness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gladness
PropertyValue
Headwordgladness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡlædnəs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#54,202
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “gladness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gladnessfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “ghostwriter” (#54,201), “geometrically” (#54,199), “glob” (#54,205). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gladness” is #54,202. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gladness is uncommon English at frequency #54,202 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡlædnəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The state of being glad; joy.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for gladness, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From glad + -ness. The correct English form is gladness, spelled G-L-A-D-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being glad; joy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how gladness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But sorrow that is couch'd in seeming gladness Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.
  2. But as time, as time will, drew on, and Watt's period of service on the ground floor approached its term, then this wish and this fear, and so this sorrow and this gladness, like so many other wishes and fears, so many other sorrows and gladnesses, grew duller and duller and gradually ceased to be felt, at all.

Etymology

From glad + -ness.

This word in other languages

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gladness"?
"gladness" is spelled G-L-A-D-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡlædnəs/.
What does "gladness" mean?
As a noun, "gladness" means: The state of being glad; joy.
How do you pronounce "gladness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gladness" is /ˈɡlædnəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "gladness"?
From glad + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gladness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list