boring
/ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/
"boring" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“boring” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,411 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,411
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act or process of boring holes; such practice as an area of expertise in manufacturing.
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 | boring |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,411 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “boring” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for boring is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,411 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for boring, with forms such as "bboring", "boirng", and "borign". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "born", "brig", "brin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English boryng (“making a hole”); equivalent to bore + -ing. The correct English form is boring, spelled B-O-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The act or process of boring holes; such practice as an area of expertise in manufacturing.
- 2A pit or hole which has been bored.
- 3One of the fragments thrown up when something is bored or drilled.
Etymology
From Middle English boryng (“making a hole”); equivalent to bore + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bboring,boirng,borign,boringg,borinng,bornig,borring,broing,obring
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of boring - 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 “boring”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-R-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “born” - see the side-by-side comparison. boring vs born
- 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.