cling
/ˈklɪŋ/
"cling" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cling” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,130 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,130
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cling is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈklɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,130 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “cling”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈklɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “clip” - see the side-by-side comparison. cling vs clip
- 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.