cling
/ˈklɪŋ/
"cling" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cling” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,130. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #15,130
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cling · cling · English
cling · rank #15,130 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #15,130
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH clarified
Nearest frequency peer: clarified (-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 “cling”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- choreography
choreography
84,874 corpus weight
- cisco
cisco
84,873 corpus weight
- clarified
clarified
84,872 corpus weight
- cling
cling
84,871 corpus weight
- coco
coco
84,870 corpus weight
- coincide
coincide
84,869 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “cling” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | cling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,130 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cling” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around cling (IPA /ˈklɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,130 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cling, with forms such as "ccling", "cilng", and "clign". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "clip", "coin", "Cong", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic *klingan, from Proto-Germanic *klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump. The correct English form is cling, spelled C-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
- 2Adherence; attachment; devotion.
- 3An ornament that clings to a window so as to be seen from outside.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cling appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Antelope steaks and fried liver to begin on, and venison cutlets with chili con carne and pineapple fritters, and then some sardines and mixed pickles; and top it off with a can of yellow clings and a bottle of beer.
a more tenacious cling to worldly reſpects,
Etymology
From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic *klingan, from Proto-Germanic *klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccling
- cilng
- clign
- clingg
- clinng
- clling
- clnig
- lcing
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cling - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cling", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "cling". Here's where to go from here.
- "cling" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "clip". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #15,130 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.