Which to use
“glu” and “gui” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,358
- “glu” frequency rank
- #21,335
- “gui” frequency rank
- 68693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glu | gui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colle végétale extraite du houx, du gui, des baies de genêt, dont on se sert surtout pour prendre les oiseaux. | Plante verte hémiparasite et épiphyte à tiges articulées dichotomiques et à baies globuleuses qui croissent sur les branches de certains arbres, grâce à leur suçoir conique (ou haustorium) et dont les graines collantes sont disséminées par divers oiseaux. |
Where the eye mixes glu and gui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. glu (CCV) and gui (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between glu and gui
A purely visual mix-up. glu (\ɡly\) and gui (\ɡi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
glu is recorded at frequency rank #47,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡly\. gui is at rank #21,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡi\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 68693, this pair ranks #58,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of glu vs gui
Shared letters: gu. Private to "glu": l. Private to "gui": i.
"glu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "gui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "glu" and "gui" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "glu" or "gui" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "glu" and "gui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "glu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glu" and "gui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glu vs glue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #58,076 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.