# glee

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡliː/ · frequency rank #15,177

## Definitions
1. Joy; happiness; great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune.
2. Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
3. An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices, not necessarily merry.

## Etymology
From Middle English gle, from Old English glēo, glīġ, glēow, glīw (“glee, pleasure, mirth, play, sport; music; mockery”), from Proto-West Germanic *glīw, from Proto-Germanic *glīwą (“joy, mirth”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰlew- (“to joke, make fun, enjoy”).
Cognate with Scots gle, glie, glew (“game, play, sport, mirth, joy, rejoicing, entertainment, melody, music”), Icelandic glý (“joy, glee, gladness”), Ancient Greek χλεύη (khleúē, “joke, jest, scorn”). A poetic word in Middle English, the word was obsolete by 1500, but revived late 18c.

## Easily confused with
- **GRE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-gre)
- **GLO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glo)
- **goes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-goes)
- **gone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-gone)
- **grew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-grew)
- **grey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-grey)
- **Greg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-greg)
- **glow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glow)
- **glen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glen)
- **glue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glue)
- **gore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-gore)
- **Gwen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-gwen)
- **gove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-gove)
- **glut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glut)
- **glyn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glyn)
- **glib** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-glib)
- **goer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-goer)
- **green** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-green)
- **Greek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-greek)
- **globe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glee-vs-globe)

## Common misspellings (5)
`gele`, `gglee`, `gle`, `gllee`, `lgee`

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