# gulag

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡuːlɑɡ/ · frequency rank #34,906

## Definitions
1. Also GULAG: the system of all Soviet labour camps and prisons in use, especially during the Stalinist period (1930s–1950s).
2. A prison camp, especially one used to hold political prisoners.
3. A 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.

## Easily confused with
- **gulf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gulf)
- **gull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gull)
- **gulp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gulp)
- **gully** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gully)
- **gulls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gulls)
- **gulch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gulag-vs-gulch)
- **gag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gag-vs-gulag)
- **gul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gul-vs-gulag)
- **glad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gulag)
- **gala** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gala-vs-gulag)
- **Guam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guam-vs-gulag)
- **glam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glam-vs-gulag)
- **gila** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gila-vs-gulag)
- **guan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guan-vs-gulag)
- **Golan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/golan-vs-gulag)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ggulag`, `gluag`, `gualg`, `gulagg`, `gulga`, `gullag`, `uglag`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gulag