clapping
/ˈklæpɪŋ/
"clapping" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clapping” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,039 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #18,039
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of clap
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 | clapping |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈklæpɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,039 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clapping” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for clapping is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈklæpɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,039 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of clap".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for clapping, with forms such as "calpping", "cclapping", and "claping". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "clawing", "cupping", "clipping", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clappynge; equivalent to clap + -ing. The correct English form is clapping, spelled C-L-A-P-P-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of clap
Etymology
From Middle English clappynge; equivalent to clap + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: calpping,cclapping,claping,clapipng,clappign,clappingg,clappinng,clappnig,cllapping,clpaping,lcapping
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clapping - 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
How do you spell "clapping"?
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Using “clapping”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-A-P-P-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈklæpɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “clawing” - see the side-by-side comparison. clapping vs clawing
- 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.