cloying
/ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/
"cloying" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cloying” is uncommon English (frequency #67,315 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,315
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of cloy
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cloying |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #67,315 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cloying” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cloying is uncommon English at frequency #67,315 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of cloy".
cloying has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, cloy + -ing. The correct English form is cloying, spelled C-L-O-Y-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of cloy
Etymology
By surface analysis, cloy + -ing.
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 "cloying"?
What does "cloying" mean?
How do you pronounce "cloying"?
What is the origin of the word "cloying"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cloying”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-O-Y-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.