bullying

/ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ/

//ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bullying" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bullying” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,424. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,424
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An act of intimidating a person to do something, especially such repeated coercion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bullying · bullying · English

bullying · rank #7,424 · 11 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,424
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bulls

Nearest frequency peer: bulls (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bullying”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bullying” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bullying vs buying
75% similar
bullying vs burying
75% similar
bullying vs billing
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bullying
PropertyValue
Headwordbullying
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#7,424
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bullying”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bullyinglands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “bulls” (#7,423), “capitalism” (#7,425), “Brisbane” (#7,422). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bullying” is #7,424. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around bullying (IPA /ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,424 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for bullying, with forms such as "bbullying", "blulying", and "bulliyng". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "buying", "burying", "billing", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bully + -ing. The correct English form is bullying, spelled B-U-L-L-Y-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of intimidating a person to do something, especially such repeated coercion.
  2. 2
    Persistent acts intended to make life unpleasant for another person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bullying appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. [Greenland's current Prime Minister Múte] Egede has insisted that Greenland is not for sale and he framed the polling partly as a referendum on Trump's seemingly bellicose bullying, saying the election was a "fateful choice."
  2. Bullying is a punishable offense in schools.

Etymology

From bully + -ing.

This word in other languages

acoso(Español)harcèlement(Français)Schikanieren(Deutsch)assédio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbullying
  • blulying
  • bulliyng
  • bullyign
  • bullyingg
  • bullyinng
  • bullynig
  • bullyying
  • bulying
  • bulyling
  • ubllying

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bullying - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbullying1blulying2bulliyng2bullyign2bullyingg1bullyinng1bullynig2bullyying1
Edit distance from "bullying"

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

How do you spell "bullying"?
"bullying" is spelled B-U-L-L-Y-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ/.
What does "bullying" mean?
As a noun, "bullying" means: An act of intimidating a person to do something, especially such repeated coercion.
What words are commonly confused with "bullying"?
"bullying" is commonly confused with "buying", "burying", "billing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bullying"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bullying" is /ˈbʊ.li.ɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bullying"?
From bully + -ing. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bullying", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Brisbane#7,422billions#7,420bachelor#7,418writings#7,411

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

columns11 variantsdelight11 variantstwisted11 variantstravelled11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list