attacking
/əˈtækɪŋ/
"attacking" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“attacking” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,348 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,348
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Carrying out an attack.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | attacking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈtækɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #4,348 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “attacking” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for attacking is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈtækɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,348 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Carrying out an attack.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for attacking, with forms such as "atacking", "atatcking", and "attaccking". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "attaining", "attaching", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From attack + -ing. The correct English form is attacking, spelled A-T-T-A-C-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Carrying out an attack.
Etymology
From attack + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atacking,atatcking,attaccking,attacikng,attackign,attackingg,attackinng,attackking,attacknig,attakcing,attcaking,tatacking
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of attacking - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “attacking”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-T-T-A-C-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈtækɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “attaining” - see the side-by-side comparison. attacking vs attaining
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.