fighting
/ˈfaɪ.tɪŋ/
"fighting" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fighting” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,271 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #1,271
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Engaged in war or other conflict.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fighting |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfaɪ.tɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,271 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fighting” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fighting is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfaɪ.tɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,271 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for fighting, with forms such as "ffighting", "fgihting", and "figghting". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "fishing", "fitting", "fisting", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English feghtyng, fyȝtynge, fightand, feghtand, feghtande, feightand, feȝtand, viȝtinde, feihtende, from Old English feohtende, from Proto-Germanic *fehtandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to comb, struggle, contend with”), equ… The correct English form is fighting, spelled F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Engaged in war or other conflict.
- 2Apt to provoke a fight.
Etymology
From Middle English feghtyng, fyȝtynge, fightand, feghtand, feghtande, feightand, feȝtand, viȝtinde, feihtende, from Old English feohtende, from Proto-Germanic *fehtandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to comb, struggle, contend with”), equivalent to fight + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffighting,fgihting,figghting,fighhting,fighitng,fightign,fightingg,fightinng,fightnig,fightting,figthing,fihgting,ifghting
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fighting - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "fighting"?
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Using “fighting”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfaɪ.tɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fishing” - see the side-by-side comparison. fighting vs fishing
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.