draining

/ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ/

//ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ// verb

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

"draining" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“draining” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,906. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,906
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of drain

Corpus desk

Index EN-draining · draining · English

draining · rank #13,906 · 12 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,906
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH doctoral

Nearest frequency peer: doctoral (-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 “draining”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “draining” 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).

draining vs driving
75% similar
draining vs drawing
75% similar
draining vs drinking
75% similar

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

Key facts for draining
PropertyValue
Headworddraining
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#13,906
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “draining”

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).draininglands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “doctoral” (#13,905), “drains” (#13,907), “distortion” (#13,904). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “draining” is #13,906. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around draining (IPA /ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #13,906 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of drain".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for draining, with forms such as "darining", "ddraining", and "draiinng". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "driving", "drawing", "drinking", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is draining, spelled D-R-A-I-N-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of drain

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • darining
  • ddraining
  • draiinng
  • drainign
  • drainingg
  • draininng
  • drainnig
  • drainning
  • draniing
  • drianing
  • drraining
  • rdaining

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

darining2ddraining1draiinng2drainign2drainingg1draininng1drainnig2drainning1
Edit distance from "draining"

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 "draining"?
"draining" is spelled D-R-A-I-N-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ/.
What does "draining" mean?
As a verb, "draining" means: present participle and gerund of drain
What words are commonly confused with "draining"?
"draining" is commonly confused with "driving", "drawing", "drinking". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "draining"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "draining" is /ˈdɹeɪnɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "draining" come from?
"draining" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "draining", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

doctoral#13,905disposed#13,903drifting#13,909diarrhea#13,902

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

creeping12 variantsBudapest12 variantslabeling12 variantsluxurious12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list