glitch
/ˈɡlɪt͡ʃ/
"glitch" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“glitch” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,032 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,032
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A problem affecting function.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | glitch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡlɪt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #16,032 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “glitch” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for glitch is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡlɪt͡ʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,032 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for glitch, with forms such as "gglitch", "giltch", and "glicth". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "glitz", "grinch", "glitches", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably borrowed from Yiddish גליטש (glitsh), from German glitschig (“slippy”), from glitschen (“to slide, glide, slip”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to gleiten (“glide”). Cognate with French glisser (“to slip, slide, skid”). Popularized in the 1960s, by the US s… The correct English form is glitch, spelled G-L-I-T-C-H.
Definition
- 1A problem affecting function.
- 2An unexpected behavior in an electrical signal, especially if the signal spontaneously returns to expected behavior after a period of time.
- 3A bug or an exploit.
- 4A genre of experimental electronic music since the 1990s, characterized by a deliberate use of sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted noise.
- 5A sudden increase in the rotational frequency of a pulsar.
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Yiddish גליטש (glitsh), from German glitschig (“slippy”), from glitschen (“to slide, glide, slip”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to gleiten (“glide”). Cognate with French glisser (“to slip, slide, skid”). Popularized in the 1960s, by the US space program. Attested in 1962 by American astronaut John Glenn, in reference to spikes in electrical current.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: gglitch,giltch,glicth,glitcch,glitchh,glithc,glittch,gllitch,gltich,lgitch
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of glitch - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “glitch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-L-I-T-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡlɪt͡ʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “glitz” - see the side-by-side comparison. glitch vs glitz
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.