hauntingly

adv

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

"hauntingly" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hauntingly” is uncommon English (frequency #61,523 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,523
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a haunting manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hauntingly · hauntingly · English

hauntingly · rank #61,523 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,523
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hartigan

Nearest frequency peer: Hartigan (-3 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 “hauntingly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hauntingly
PropertyValue
Headwordhauntingly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters10
Frequency rank#61,523
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hauntingly” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hauntinglyfalls 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: “Hartigan” (#61,520), “Heimlich” (#61,526), “Haring” (#61,519). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hauntingly” is #61,523. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hauntingly is uncommon English at frequency #61,523 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a haunting manner.".

hauntingly doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hauntingli, hawntyngly, equivalent to haunting + -ly. The correct English form is hauntingly, spelled H-A-U-N-T-I-N-G-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a haunting manner.

Etymology

From Middle English hauntingli, hawntyngly, equivalent to haunting + -ly.

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 "hauntingly"?
"hauntingly" is spelled H-A-U-N-T-I-N-G-L-Y.
What does "hauntingly" mean?
As an adverb, "hauntingly" means: In a haunting manner.
What is the origin of the word "hauntingly"?
From Middle English hauntingli, hawntyngly, equivalent to haunting + -ly. 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 "hauntingly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hindustani#61,533hippodrome#61,534Huddleston#61,541glycolysis#61,497

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list