glottal
/ˈɡlɒt.l̩/
"glottal" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“glottal” is uncommon English (frequency #77,712 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #77,712
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or relating to the glottis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-glottal · glottal · English
glottal · rank #77,712 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #77,712
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH globalised
Nearest frequency peer: globalised (-2 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 “glottal”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- glinting
glinting
22,293 corpus weight
- glitched
glitched
22,292 corpus weight
- globalised
globalised
22,291 corpus weight
- glottal
glottal
22,289 corpus weight
- godfathers
godfathers
22,287 corpus weight
- Goodenough
Goodenough
22,285 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “glottal” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | glottal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɡlɒt.l̩/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #77,712 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “glottal” in English
Rare enough to double-check
glottal is uncommon English at frequency #77,712 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɡlɒt.l̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for glottal, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From glottis + -al. The correct English form is glottal, spelled G-L-O-T-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to the glottis.
- 2Articulated with the glottis.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how glottal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Her Malay was the Malay of the Staate of Lanchap [...] and she spoke it fierily, with crisp glottal checks, with much bubbling reduplication.
Both EE and SSBE feature glottal stops – unvoiced Ts – but in EE it can happen in the middle of words – eg “wa’er for “water” – whereas in SSBE it happens only at the end of words.
Etymology
From glottis + -al.
Synonyms
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 "glottal"?
What does "glottal" mean?
How do you pronounce "glottal"?
What is the origin of the word "glottal"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "glottal", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).