dousing

noun

"dousing" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dousing” is uncommon English (frequency #78,544 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,544
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act by which something is doused.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dousing · dousing · English

dousing · rank #78,544 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,544
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH douce

Nearest frequency peer: douce (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “dousing”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “dousing” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dousing
PropertyValue
Headworddousing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#78,544
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dousing” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).dousingfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “douce” (#78,543), “dopa” (#78,542), “doorstop” (#78,541). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dousing” is #78,544. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dousing is uncommon English at frequency #78,544 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The act by which something is doused.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for dousing in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is dousing, spelled D-O-U-S-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act by which something is doused.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. But the Royal Commission learned that he also employed water-dousings and a vicious device called the "punishment jacket" to inflict varying degrees of physical and psychological torments upon the inmates under his care.

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 "dousing"?
"dousing" is spelled D-O-U-S-I-N-G.
What does "dousing" mean?
As a noun, "dousing" means: The act by which something is doused.
What language does "dousing" come from?
"dousing" 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 "dousing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list