falling

/ˈfɔːlɪŋ/

//ˈfɔːlɪŋ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“falling” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,203. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,203
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-falling · falling · English

falling · rank #2,203 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,203
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH facilities

Nearest frequency peer: facilities (-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 “falling”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “falling” 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).

falling vs fling
71% similar
falling vs flying
71% similar
falling vs filing
71% similar

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

Key facts for falling
PropertyValue
Headwordfalling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈfɔːlɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,203
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “falling”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).fallinglands 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 “facilities” (#2,202), “fox” (#2,204), “everywhere” (#2,201). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “falling” is #2,203. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around falling (IPA /ˈfɔːlɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,203 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of fall".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for falling, with forms such as "aflling", "falilng", and "faling". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fling", "flying", "filing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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 falling, spelled F-A-L-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of fall

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. a falling leaf
  2. the falling prices of luxury goods

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aflling
  • falilng
  • faling
  • fallign
  • fallingg
  • fallinng
  • fallnig
  • ffalling
  • flaling

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of falling - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aflling2falilng2faling1fallign2fallingg1fallinng1fallnig2ffalling1
Edit distance from "falling"

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 "falling"?
"falling" is spelled F-A-L-L-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɔːlɪŋ/.
What does "falling" mean?
As a verb, "falling" means: present participle and gerund of fall
What words are commonly confused with "falling"?
"falling" is commonly confused with "fling", "flying", "filing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "falling"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "falling" is /ˈfɔːlɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "falling" come from?
"falling" 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 "falling", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

holiday#2,207discuss#2,197Ireland#2,210concern#2,195

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Italian9 variantsjersey9 variantsletters9 variantswalked9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list