gully

/ˈɡʌli/

//ˈɡʌli// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"gully" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gully” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25,079) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25,079
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 trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gully · gully · English

gully · rank #25,079 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,079
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH groovy

Nearest frequency peer: groovy (-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 “gully”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “gully” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

gully vs guy
60% similar
gully vs gulp
60% similar
gully vs gurl
60% similar

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

Key facts for gully
PropertyValue
Headwordgully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡʌli/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,079
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “gully”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gullylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “groovy” (#25,078), “gundam” (#25,080), “gurney” (#25,081). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gully” is #25,079. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for gully is neighbouring look-alikes ("guy", "gulp", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈɡʌli/. Frequency #25,079 among 2,313 “G” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for gully, with forms such as "ggully", "gluly", and "gullyy". 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, "guy", "gulp", "gurl", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gill… The correct English form is gully, spelled G-U-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
  2. 2
    A small valley.
  3. 3
    A drop kerb.
  4. 4
    A road drain.
  5. 5
    A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position
  6. 6
    A grooved iron rail or tram plate.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. A new drainage run and rainwater gullies are to be installed between the station and Oxford Road, with completion planned for December 1.

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul. Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick.

This word in other languages

barranco(Español)ravine(Français)Graben(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggully
  • gluly
  • gullyy
  • gulyl

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ggully1gluly2gullyy1gulyl2
Edit distance from "gully"

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 "gully"?
"gully" is spelled G-U-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡʌli/.
What does "gully" mean?
As a noun, "gully" means: A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
What words are commonly confused with "gully"?
"gully" is commonly confused with "guy", "gulp", "gurl". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gully"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gully" is /ˈɡʌli/. 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 "gully"?
Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English g... 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 "gully", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

franc#25,065folio#25,063fleas#25,061fives#25,060

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list