darling
/ˈdɑːlɪŋ/
"darling" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“darling” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,125. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #6,125
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
Corpus desk
Index EN-darling · darling · English
darling · rank #6,125 · 11 variants · 18 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #6,125
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Dakota
Nearest frequency peer: Dakota (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “darling”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cult
cult
93,879 corpus weight
- dairy
dairy
93,878 corpus weight
- Dakota
Dakota
93,877 corpus weight
- darling
darling
93,876 corpus weight
- delighted
delighted
93,875 corpus weight
- delivering
delivering
93,874 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “darling” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | darling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #6,125 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “darling” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around darling (IPA /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,125 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for darling, with forms such as "adrling", "dalring", and "darilng". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "during", "dating", "Darwin", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English dereling, derelyng (“beloved person; beloved of God, devout Christian”), from Old English dīerling, dēorling (“favourite, darling; minion”), from Proto-West Germanic *diuriling, from Proto-Germanic *diurijalingaz, fro… The correct English form is darling, spelled D-A-R-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
- 2A person who is kind, sweet, etc., and thus lovable; a pet, a sweetheart; also, an animal or thing which is cute and lovable.
- 3A favourite.
- 4A favourite.
- 5A favourite.
- 6A favourite.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how darling appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Pass the wine, would you, darling?
[I]t is better to be / An old mans derling than a yong mans werling.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English dereling, derelyng (“beloved person; beloved of God, devout Christian”), from Old English dīerling, dēorling (“favourite, darling; minion”), from Proto-West Germanic *diuriling, from Proto-Germanic *diurijalingaz, from *diurijaz (“beloved, dear; expensive”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“hot, warm; to burn”), or *dweh₂- (“distant, long; to remove, separate”)) + *-ilingaz (suffix forming (diminutive) nouns with the sense of ‘belonging to; coming from’). By surface analysis, dear + -ling (suffix meaning ‘immature; small’). The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. The verb is also derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- adrling
- dalring
- darilng
- darlign
- darlingg
- darlinng
- darlling
- darlnig
- darrling
- ddarling
- draling
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of darling - 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.
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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "darling"?
What does "darling" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "darling"?
How do you pronounce "darling"?
What is the origin of the word "darling"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "darling", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "darling". Here's where to go from here.
- "darling" maps to 18 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "during". View pair
- 11 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #6,125 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.