colouring

noun

"colouring" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“colouring” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,754. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,754
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of coloring.

Corpus desk

Index EN-colouring · colouring · English

colouring · rank #21,754 · 13 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,754
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH competes

Nearest frequency peer: competes (+2 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “colouring”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “colouring” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

colouring vs conjuring
78% similar
colouring vs contouring
80% similar
colouring vs coloring
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for colouring
PropertyValue
Headwordcolouring
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#21,754
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “colouring”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).colouringlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “competes” (#21,756), “clientele” (#21,751), “clam” (#21,750). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “colouring” is #21,754. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around colouring, anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,754 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Alternative spelling of coloring.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for colouring, with forms such as "ccolouring", "cloouring", and "collouring". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "conjuring", "contouring", "coloring", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is colouring, spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of coloring.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how colouring appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The seven hampers for four boys and three girls were personalised to each patient, including overnight hotel stays, colouring books and self care items.
  2. In 2008, British health ministers agreed to phase out six artificial food colourings by 2009, while the European Union bans some colourings and requires warning labels on others.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccolouring
  • cloouring
  • collouring
  • coloruing
  • colouirng
  • colourign
  • colouringg
  • colourinng
  • colournig
  • colourring
  • coluoring
  • cooluring
  • oclouring

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of colouring - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccolouring1cloouring2collouring1coloruing2colouirng2colourign2colouringg1colourinng1
Edit distance from "colouring"

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 "colouring"?
"colouring" is spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-I-N-G.
What does "colouring" mean?
As a noun, "colouring" means: Alternative spelling of coloring.
What words are commonly confused with "colouring"?
"colouring" is commonly confused with "conjuring", "contouring", "coloring". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "colouring" come from?
"colouring" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "colouring", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list