backbiting
"backbiting" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“backbiting” is uncommon English (frequency #95,720 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #95,720
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.
Corpus desk
Index EN-backbiting · backbiting · English
backbiting · rank #95,720 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #95,720
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH backbeat
Nearest frequency peer: backbeat (-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 neighbourhood for “backbiting”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Azzurri
Azzurri
4,286 corpus weight
- bacilli
bacilli
4,283 corpus weight
- backbeat
backbeat
4,282 corpus weight
- backbiting
backbiting
4,281 corpus weight
- Baldi
Baldi
4,279 corpus weight
- barilla
barilla
4,277 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “backbiting” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | backbiting |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #95,720 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “backbiting” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
backbiting is uncommon English at frequency #95,720 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for backbiting in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing. The correct English form is backbiting, spelled B-A-C-K-B-I-T-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.
Etymology
From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "backbiting", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.