crumbling
/ˈkɹʌmblɪŋ/
"crumbling" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“crumbling” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,803 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #19,803
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That crumbles; that breaks into small pieces or particles.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | crumbling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɹʌmblɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #19,803 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “crumbling” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for crumbling is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɹʌmblɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,803 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for crumbling, with forms such as "ccrumbling", "crmubling", and "crrumbling". 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. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is crumbling, spelled C-R-U-M-B-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1That crumbles; that breaks into small pieces or particles.
- 2In a state of decline.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccrumbling,crmubling,crrumbling,crubmling,crumbbling,crumbilng,crumblign,crumblingg,crumblinng,crumblling,crumblnig,crumlbing,crummbling,curmbling,rcumbling
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of crumbling - 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
How do you spell "crumbling"?
What does "crumbling" mean?
What are common misspellings of "crumbling"?
How do you pronounce "crumbling"?
What language does "crumbling" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “crumbling”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-U-M-B-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɹʌmblɪŋ/ (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
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.