glue

Name: glue, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ɡluː/

//ɡluː// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“glue” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,613. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,613
frequency rank, English: 2,313
“G” headwords: 5
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-glue · glue · English

glue · rank #9,613 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-COMMON #9,613
LEN-MID 4 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-MID 5 variants
BOOK-MID 2,313
PHOTO-FINISH freestyle

Nearest frequency peer: freestyle (-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.

flush

90,391
font

90,390
freestyle

90,389
glue

90,388
grandpa

90,387
hairy

90,386

What this shows “glue” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

glue vs GU

0% similar

glue vs guy

50% similar

glue vs gun

50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for glue
Property	Value
Headword	glue
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ɡluː/
Letters	4
Frequency rank	#9,613
Misspellings tracked	5
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “glue”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).gluelands here:

#9,613

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “freestyle” (#9,612), “grandpa” (#9,614), “font” (#9,611). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “glue” is #9,613. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around glue (IPA /ɡluː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,613 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for glue, with forms such as "gglue", "gleu", and "gllue". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "GU", "guy", "gun", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue From Middle English glew, glue, from Old French glu (“glue, birdlime”), from Lat… The correct English form is glue, spelled G-L-U-E.

Definition

1
A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.
2
Anything that binds two things or people together.
3
A viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Near-synonyms: adhesive, cement
The wasp has always made the paper from which it constructs its nest, by uniting vegetable fibres with glue, while man was vexing himself with attempts to write on the bark of trees or a waxen or metallic table.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue From Middle English glew, glue, from Old French glu (“glue, birdlime”), from Late Latin glūs (stem glūt-), from Latin glūten. Related to clay. Partially displaced native Old English līm (“glue”) and ġelīman (“to glue”) (whence modern lime).

This word in other languages

cola(Español)colle(Français)Klebstoff(Deutsch)cola(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

gglue
gleu
gllue
gule
lgue

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of glue - 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.

Edit distance from "glue"

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 "glue"?

"glue" is spelled G-L-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡluː/.

What does "glue" mean?

As a noun, "glue" means: A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

What words are commonly confused with "glue"?

"glue" is commonly confused with "GU", "guy", "gun". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "glue"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "glue" is /ɡluː/. 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 "glue"?

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue From Middle English glew, glue, from Old French glu (“glue, birdlime”)... 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 "glue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

font#9,611 Lyon#9,625 crow#9,590 Modi#9,636

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

Carroll5 variants Rosa5 variants sofa5 variants belle5 variants