bristling
/ˈbɹɪs(ə)lɪŋ/
"bristling" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bristling” is uncommon English (frequency #54,654 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,654
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having bristles.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bristling · bristling · English
bristling · rank #54,654 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #54,654
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH brevet
Nearest frequency peer: brevet (-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 “bristling”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- blustery
blustery
45,352 corpus weight
- bratty
bratty
45,349 corpus weight
- brevet
brevet
45,348 corpus weight
- bristling
bristling
45,347 corpus weight
- Brittain
Brittain
45,346 corpus weight
- broomstick
broomstick
45,344 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bristling” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bristling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈbɹɪs(ə)lɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #54,654 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bristling” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bristling is uncommon English at frequency #54,654 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈbɹɪs(ə)lɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for bristling in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is bristling, spelled B-R-I-S-T-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Having bristles.
- 2Reacting with anger or indignation.
- 3Dressed in effective defensive equipment while not seeking a fight.
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
How do you spell "bristling"?
What does "bristling" mean?
How do you pronounce "bristling"?
What language does "bristling" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bristling", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 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.