cling film
/ˈklɪŋˌfɪlm/
"cling-film" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cling film” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A plastic film (originally polyvinylidene chloride but now polyethylene) that is so light and thin that it clings to any object about which it is wrapped; used to cover and preserve foodstuffs etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cling-film · cling film · English
cling film · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cling film |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɪŋˌfɪlm/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cling film” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cling film is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈklɪŋˌfɪlm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A plastic film (originally polyvinylidene chloride but now polyethylene) that is so light and thin that it clings to any object about which it is wrapped; used to cover and preserve foodstuffs etc.".
No misspelling variants are generated for cling film in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is cling film, spelled C-L-I-N-G- -F-I-L-M.
Definition
- 1A plastic film (originally polyvinylidene chloride but now polyethylene) that is so light and thin that it clings to any object about which it is wrapped; used to cover and preserve foodstuffs etc.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). 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.
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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.