Which to use
“glu” and “gut” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,358
- “glu” frequency rank
- #45,089
- “gut” frequency rank
- 92447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glu | gut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colle végétale extraite du houx, du gui, des baies de genêt, dont on se sert surtout pour prendre les oiseaux. | Rituel chamanique consistant à communiquer avec les esprits. |
Where the eye mixes glu and gut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. glu (CCV) and gut (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: glu vs gut
A purely visual mix-up. glu (\ɡly\) and gut (\ɡyt\) 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 92447, 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\. gut is at rank #45,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡyt\.
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 92447, this pair ranks #2,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of glu vs gut
Shared letters: gu. Private to "glu": l. Private to "gut": t.
"glu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "gut" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "glu" for "gut" ever safe?
Frequency check: "glu" vs "gut" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "glu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glu" and "gut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glu vs glue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,988 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.