detaining
"detaining" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detaining” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,287. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #39,287
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A delay, hindrance, or impediment; the act of holding back.
Corpus desk
Index EN-detaining · detaining · English
detaining · rank #39,287 · 13 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-MID #39,287
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH determinism
Nearest frequency peer: determinism (+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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “detaining”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- ded
ded
60,720 corpus weight
- denier
denier
60,717 corpus weight
- detaining
detaining
60,714 corpus weight
- determinism
determinism
60,713 corpus weight
- dimmed
dimmed
60,710 corpus weight
- dingo
dingo
60,709 corpus weight
What this shows “detaining” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | detaining |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #39,287 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “detaining”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around detaining, anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,287 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for detaining, with forms such as "ddetaining", "deatining", and "detaiinng". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "draining", "defining", "declining", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is detaining, spelled D-E-T-A-I-N-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1A delay, hindrance, or impediment; the act of holding back.
- 2The act by which someone is detained; detention.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how detaining appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The heavy rain was a detaining on their progress.
The suspect’s detaining lasted several hours.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddetaining
- deatining
- detaiinng
- detainign
- detainingg
- detaininng
- detainnig
- detainning
- detaniing
- detianing
- dettaining
- dteaining
- edtaining
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detaining - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "detaining", 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).