groundbreaking
/ˈɡɹaʊndˌbɹeɪkɪŋ/
"groundbreaking" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“groundbreaking” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,826 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,826
- frequency rank, English
- 14
- letters
- 22
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Innovative; new, different; doing something that has never been done before.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | groundbreaking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹaʊndˌbɹeɪkɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Frequency rank | #15,826 |
| Misspellings tracked | 22 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “groundbreaking” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for groundbreaking is 14 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡɹaʊndˌbɹeɪkɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,826 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Innovative; new, different; doing something that has never been done before.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 22 likely wrong-spelling variants for groundbreaking, with forms such as "ggroundbreaking", "gorundbreaking", and "gronudbreaking". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ground + breaking, in reference to the practice of breaking ground at the beginning of a new building or construction. The correct English form is groundbreaking, spelled G-R-O-U-N-D-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Innovative; new, different; doing something that has never been done before.
Etymology
From ground + breaking, in reference to the practice of breaking ground at the beginning of a new building or construction.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggroundbreaking,gorundbreaking,gronudbreaking,groudnbreaking,grounbdreaking,groundbbreaking,groundberaking,groundbraeking,groundbreaikng,groundbreakign,groundbreakingg,groundbreakinng,groundbreakking,groundbreaknig,groundbrekaing,groundbrreaking,grounddbreaking,groundrbeaking,grounndbreaking,grroundbreaking,gruondbreaking,rgoundbreaking
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of groundbreaking - 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.
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 "groundbreaking"?
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Using “groundbreaking”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-O-U-N-D-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɹaʊndˌbɹeɪkɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.