disturbing

/dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ/

//dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"disturbing" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“disturbing” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,562. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,562
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-disturbing · disturbing · English

disturbing · rank #6,562 · 16 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,562
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH dip

Nearest frequency peer: dip (-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 “disturbing”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “disturbing” 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).

disturbing vs disturbingly
83% similar
disturbing vs distorting
80% similar

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

Key facts for disturbing
PropertyValue
Headworddisturbing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ/
Letters10
Frequency rank#6,562
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “disturbing”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).disturbinglands 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 “dip” (#6,561), “dimensions” (#6,560), “dot” (#6,564). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “disturbing” is #6,562. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around disturbing (IPA /dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,562 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for disturbing, with forms such as "ddisturbing", "dissturbing", and "distrubing". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "disturbingly", "distorting", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is disturbing, spelled D-I-S-T-U-R-B-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A disturbing film that tries to explore the mind of a serial killer.
  2. His behaviour is very disturbing.

This word in other languages

inquietante(Español)dérangeant(Français)verstörend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddisturbing
  • dissturbing
  • distrubing
  • distturbing
  • distubring
  • disturbbing
  • disturbign
  • disturbingg
  • disturbinng
  • disturbnig
  • disturibng
  • disturrbing
  • disutrbing
  • ditsurbing
  • dsiturbing
  • idsturbing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddisturbing1dissturbing1distrubing2distturbing1distubring2disturbbing1disturbign2disturbingg1
Edit distance from "disturbing"

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 "disturbing"?
"disturbing" is spelled D-I-S-T-U-R-B-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ/.
What does "disturbing" mean?
As an adjective, "disturbing" means: Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling.
What words are commonly confused with "disturbing"?
"disturbing" is commonly confused with "disturbingly", "distorting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "disturbing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "disturbing" is /dɪsˈtɜː.bɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "disturbing" come from?
"disturbing" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "disturbing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dimensions#6,560attributed#6,543influences#6,582accomplish#6,538

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

effectiveness16 variantsexceptional16 variantslimitations16 variantsmeasurement16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list