looking-glass
/ˈlʊkɪŋ ˌɡlɑːs/
"looking-glass" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“looking-glass” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of mirror (“smooth surface that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it”).
Corpus desk
Index EN-looking-glass · looking-glass · English
looking-glass · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | looking-glass |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlʊkɪŋ ˌɡlɑːs/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “looking-glass” in English
Rare enough to double-check
looking-glass is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlʊkɪŋ ˌɡlɑːs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
looking-glass has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: * (way into a bizarre world): From the book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) by Lewis Carroll. The correct English form is looking-glass, spelled L-O-O-K-I-N-G---G-L-A-S-S.
Definition
- 1Synonym of mirror (“smooth surface that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it”).
- 2A way into a bizarre world.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how looking-glass appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A Divine Looking-Glaſs: Or, The third and laſt Teſtament of our Lord, JESUS CHRIST, […] [title]
Even ſo the account of your Looking-glaſs puts us in hopes of ſome mighty Diſcoveries to be made by the Help of it, and at the ſame time, ſeems to carry its own Contradiction along with it; for a Pocket Looking-glaſs, is, doubtleſs, a moſt prepoſterous Help for taking a Clear View of a Great Coloſſus, unleſs it be one of thoſe, that contract the largeſt B…
Etymology
* (way into a bizarre world): From the book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) by Lewis Carroll.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.