gulag
/ˈɡuːlɑɡ/
"gulag" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gulag” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,906 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,906
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Also GULAG: the system of all Soviet labour camps and prisons in use, especially during the Stalinist period (1930s–1950s).
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 | gulag |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡuːlɑɡ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #34,906 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gulag” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gulag is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡuːlɑɡ/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,906 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for gulag, with forms such as "ggulag", "gluag", and "gualg". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "gulf", "gull", "gulp", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Russian ГУЛА́Г (GULÁG), the acronym of Гла́вное управле́ние исправи́тельно-трудовы́х лагере́й (Glávnoje upravlénije ispravítelʹno-trudovýx lageréj, “Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps”), the government agency in charge of the Sovie… The correct English form is gulag, spelled G-U-L-A-G.
Definition
- 1Also GULAG: the system of all Soviet labour camps and prisons in use, especially during the Stalinist period (1930s–1950s).
- 2A prison camp, especially one used to hold political prisoners.
- 3A place where, or political system in which, people with dissident views are routinely oppressed.
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian ГУЛА́Г (GULÁG), the acronym of Гла́вное управле́ние исправи́тельно-трудовы́х лагере́й (Glávnoje upravlénije ispravítelʹno-trudovýx lageréj, “Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps”), the government agency in charge of the Soviet Union’s network of forced labour camps, which was established in 1918 and formally abolished in 1960: see GULAG.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggulag,gluag,gualg,gulagg,gulga,gullag,uglag
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gulag - 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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Using “gulag”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-U-L-A-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡuːlɑɡ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gulf” - see the side-by-side comparison. gulag vs gulf
- 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.