explaining

noun

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

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

The verdict

“explaining” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,856. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,856
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - explanation

Corpus desk

Index EN-explaining · explaining · English

explaining · rank #4,856 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,856
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH expense

Nearest frequency peer: expense (-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 “explaining”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “explaining” 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).

explaining vs exclaiming
80% similar

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

Key facts for explaining
PropertyValue
Headwordexplaining
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#4,856
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “explaining”

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).explaininglands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “expense” (#4,855), “furthermore” (#4,857), “essay” (#4,854). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “explaining” is #4,856. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around explaining, anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,856 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Dominant gloss: "explanation".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for explaining, with forms such as "epxlaining", "exlpaining", and "expalining". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "exclaiming", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented 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 explaining, spelled E-X-P-L-A-I-N-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    explanation

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. You've got some explaining to do!
  2. Among these various explainings there is one set which it is comparatively easy to distinguish. I call it semantic explanation: making clear a meaning.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epxlaining
  • exlpaining
  • expalining
  • explaiinng
  • explainign
  • explainingg
  • explaininng
  • explainnig
  • explainning
  • explaniing
  • explianing
  • expllaining
  • expplaining
  • exxplaining
  • xeplaining

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

epxlaining2exlpaining2expalining2explaiinng2explainign2explainingg1explaininng1explainnig2
Edit distance from "explaining"

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 "explaining"?
"explaining" is spelled E-X-P-L-A-I-N-I-N-G.
What does "explaining" mean?
As a noun, "explaining" means: explanation
What words are commonly confused with "explaining"?
"explaining" is commonly confused with "exclaiming". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "explaining" come from?
"explaining" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "explaining", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

disgusting#4,849discussing#4,848discipline#4,847directions#4,846

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

instantly15 variantsQueensland15 variantsregulatory15 variantssubstance15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list