gaslighting

noun

"gaslighting" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gaslighting” is uncommon English (frequency #51,721 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,721
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gerund of gaslight

Corpus desk

Index EN-gaslighting · gaslighting · English

gaslighting · rank #51,721 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,721
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH Gerhardt

Nearest frequency peer: Gerhardt (+2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “gaslighting”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “gaslighting” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gaslighting
PropertyValue
Headwordgaslighting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#51,721
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “gaslighting” in English

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).gaslightingfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “Gerhardt” (#51,723), “galling” (#51,718), “ghosting” (#51,724). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gaslighting” is #51,721. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gaslighting is uncommon English at frequency #51,721 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "gerund of gaslight".

Zero misspellings are on record for gaslighting in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From gaslight + -ing; see explanation at gaslight § Etymology 2. The correct English form is gaslighting, spelled G-A-S-L-I-G-H-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    gerund of gaslight

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 2013, Victoria Summit, Stop Dancing in the Gaslight: Recognizing Domestic Abuse is Half the Battle, Scarlett Publishing, page 14, In the Disney movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, Oz's gaslighting schemes showcase his extreme case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
  2. “Defendants’ representations to this Court that Mr. Musk is not running DOGE are tantamount to legal gaslighting,” CREW said.

Etymology

From gaslight + -ing; see explanation at gaslight § Etymology 2.

This word in other languages

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 "gaslighting"?
"gaslighting" is spelled G-A-S-L-I-G-H-T-I-N-G.
What does "gaslighting" mean?
As a noun, "gaslighting" means: gerund of gaslight
What is the origin of the word "gaslighting"?
From gaslight + -ing; see explanation at gaslight § Etymology 2. 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 "gaslighting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list