goop
/ɡuːp/
"goop" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“goop” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #46,488) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #46,488
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A thick, slimy substance; goo.
Corpus desk
Index EN-goop · goop · English
goop · rank #46,488 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #46,488
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH Gorsuch
Nearest frequency peer: Gorsuch (+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.
Frequency neighbours of confusable “goop”
Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below
- gilly
gilly
53,517 corpus weight
- gizmo
gizmo
53,516 corpus weight
- glycine
glycine
53,515 corpus weight
- goop
goop
53,513 corpus weight
- Gorsuch
Gorsuch
53,512 corpus weight
- Gregson
Gregson
53,511 corpus weight
What this shows Bars place “goop” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.
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 | goop |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡuːp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #46,488 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Corpus rank beside confusables of “goop”
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for goop is neighbouring look-alikes ("GP", "got", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɡuːp/. Frequency #46,488 among 2,313 “G” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for goop, with forms such as "ggoop", "goopp", and "gopo". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "GP", "got", "GOP", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1930s, perhaps a variant of goo; compare gloop, and glob. The correct English form is goop, spelled G-O-O-P.
Definition
- 1A thick, slimy substance; goo.
- 2A silly, stupid, or boorish person.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how goop appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the see…
I pointed out that Stiffy, who is pure padded cell from the foundation up, was planning to marry the Rev. H.P. Pinker, himself as pronounced a goop as ever preached the Hivites and Hittites
Etymology
1930s, perhaps a variant of goo; compare gloop, and glob.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ggoop
- goopp
- gopo
- ogop
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of goop - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "goop", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).