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glamour

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "glamour", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "glamour" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "glamour" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

glamour is aEnglishnoun. It means: Originally, enchantment; magic charm; especially, the effect of a spell that causes one to see objects in a form that differs from reality, typically to make filthy, ugly, or repulsive things seem ... Pronounced /ˈɡlæmə/. Often confused with Gilmour.

Key facts for glamour
PropertyValue
Headwordglamour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡlæmə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#14,765
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of glamour in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for glamour is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡlæmə/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,765 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for glamour, with forms such as "galmour", "gglamour", and "glammour". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Gilmour", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Scots glamour (“magic”), alteration of Middle English gramere (“grammar”), from Old French gramaire. Doublet of glamoury, gramarye, grammar, and grimoire. A connection has also been suggested with Old Norse glámr (“the moon", also "the name of… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is glamour, spelled G-L-A-M-O-U-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Originally, enchantment; magic charm; especially, the effect of a spell that causes one to see objects in a form that differs from reality, typically to make filthy, ugly, or repulsive things seem beauteous.
  2. 2
    Alluring beauty or charm (often with sex appeal).
  3. 3
    Any excitement, appeal, or attractiveness associated with a person, place, or thing; that which makes something appealing.
  4. 4
    Any artificial interest in, or association with, objects, or persons, through which they appear delusively magnified or glorified.
  5. 5
    A kind of haze in the air, causing things to appear different from what they really are.
  6. 6
    An item, motif, person, image that by association improves appearance.
  7. 7
    A beautiful woman.

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots glamour (“magic”), alteration of Middle English gramere (“grammar”), from Old French gramaire. Doublet of glamoury, gramarye, grammar, and grimoire. A connection has also been suggested with Old Norse glámr (“the moon", also "the name of a ghost”, poetic byname, literally “the pale one”) and glámsýni (“glamour, illusion”, literally “glam-sight”). From Grettir's Saga aka Grettis Saga, one of the Sagas of Icelanders, after the hero has been cursed by Glam, aka Glamr: "...he was become so fearsome a man in the dark, that he durst go nowhither alone after nightfall, for then he seemed to see all kinds of horrors. And that has fallen since into a proverb, that "Glam lends eyes", or gives Glamsight to those who see things nowise as they are."

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: galmour,gglamour,glammour,glamoru,glamourr,glamuor,glaomur,gllamour,glmaour,lgamour

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for glamour

Misspelling Variants of "glamour"

galmour7gglamour8glammour8glamoru7glamourr8glamuor7glaomur7gllamour8
Misspelling Variants of "glamour"

Frequency rank: #14,765 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "glamour"?
"glamour" is spelled G-L-A-M-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡlæmə/.
What does "glamour" mean?
As a noun, "glamour" means: Originally, enchantment; magic charm; especially, the effect of a spell that causes one to see objects in a form that differs from reality, typically to make filthy, ugly, or repulsive things seem ...
What words are commonly confused with "glamour"?
"glamour" is commonly confused with "Gilmour". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "glamour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "glamour" is /ˈɡlæmə/. 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 "glamour"?
Borrowed from Scots glamour (“magic”), alteration of Middle English gramere (“grammar”), from Old French gramaire. Doublet of glamoury, gramarye, grammar, and grimoire. A connection has also been suggested with Old Norse glámr (“the moon", also "t... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter G in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.