fishing

/ˈfɪʃɪŋ/

//ˈfɪʃɪŋ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“fishing” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,164. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,164
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of catching fish.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fishing · fishing · English

fishing · rank #3,164 · 11 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,164
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH extent

Nearest frequency peer: extent (-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 “fishing”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “fishing” 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).

fishing vs fixing
71% similar
fishing vs fusing
71% similar
fishing vs fitting
71% similar

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

Key facts for fishing
PropertyValue
Headwordfishing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɪʃɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,164
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fishing”

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).fishinglands 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 “extent” (#3,163), “format” (#3,165), “everyday” (#3,162). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fishing” is #3,164. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around fishing (IPA /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,164 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for fishing, with forms such as "ffishing", "fihsing", and "fishhing". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "fixing", "fusing", "fitting", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fischynge, equivalent to fish + -ing. The correct English form is fishing, spelled F-I-S-H-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of catching fish.
  2. 2
    The act of catching other forms of seafood, separately or together with fish.
  3. 3
    Commercial fishing: the business or industry of catching fish and other seafood for sale.
  4. 4
    A fishery, a place for catching fish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We had a good day's fishing at the weekend.
  2. Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

Etymology

From Middle English fischynge, equivalent to fish + -ing.

Synonyms

piscatologypiscationpiscicidepiscicapturethe gentle craftfisherythe fish industrythe seafood industrysportfishingfishery

This word in other languages

pesca(Español)pêche(Français)Fischen(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffishing
  • fihsing
  • fishhing
  • fishign
  • fishingg
  • fishinng
  • fishnig
  • fisihng
  • fisshing
  • fsihing
  • ifshing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fishing - 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.

ffishing1fihsing2fishhing1fishign2fishingg1fishinng1fishnig2fisihng2
Edit distance from "fishing"

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 "fishing"?
"fishing" is spelled F-I-S-H-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/.
What does "fishing" mean?
As a noun, "fishing" means: The act of catching fish.
What words are commonly confused with "fishing"?
"fishing" is commonly confused with "fixing", "fusing", "fitting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fishing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fishing" is /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fishing"?
From Middle English fischynge, equivalent to fish + -ing. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "fishing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

divided#3,160circuit#3,154joining#3,175chamber#3,151

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

bullshit11 variantsparking11 variantsrelative11 variantsclosing11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list