darling
/ˈdɑːlɪŋ/
"darling" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“darling” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,125 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,125
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for darling is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,125 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "darling"?
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Using “darling”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-A-R-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “during” - see the side-by-side comparison. darling vs during
- 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.