glue

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

/ɡluː/

//ɡluː// noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“glue” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,613 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#9,613
frequency rank, English: 4
letters: 5
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

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)

Where “glue” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). glue lands here:

#9,613

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

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for glue is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡluː/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,613 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

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.

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.

Using “glue”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is G-L-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ɡluː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “GU” - see the side-by-side comparison. glue vs GU
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.