heartbreaking

Name: heartbreaking, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“heartbreaking” has 20 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,528. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,528
frequency rank, English: 2,646
“H” headwords: 20
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That causes great grief, anguish or distress.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heartbreaking · heartbreaking · English

heartbreaking · rank #13,528 · 20 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #13,528
LEN-MEGA 13 letters
VOW-5 5 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 20 variants
BOOK-MID 2,646
PHOTO-FINISH hassle

Nearest frequency peer: hassle (-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.

Hancock

86,476
handwriting

86,475
hassle

86,474
heartbreaki…

86,473
hector

86,472
Hicks

86,471

What this shows “heartbreaking” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for heartbreaking
Property	Value
Headword	heartbreaking
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
Letters	13
Frequency rank	#13,528
Misspellings tracked	20
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heartbreaking”

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).heartbreakinglands here:

#13,528

#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 “hassle” (#13,527), “hector” (#13,529), “handwriting” (#13,526). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heartbreaking” is #13,528. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 20 spelling variants around heartbreaking, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #13,528 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "That causes great grief, anguish or distress.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 20 likely wrong-spelling variants for heartbreaking, with forms such as "ehartbreaking", "haertbreaking", and "hearbtreaking". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From heart + breaking. The correct English form is heartbreaking, spelled H-E-A-R-T-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.

Definition

1
That causes great grief, anguish or distress.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Near-synonyms: heartrending, heartwrenching
Things went well with the clearing on Friday, but by Saturday, February 3, a 70 m.p.h. blizzard set in, and against such heartbreaking conditions, although an effort was made with the plough to keep open the sections cleared on the previous day, ground was gradually lost, [...].

Etymology

From heart + breaking.

This word in other languages

desgarrador(Español)déchirant(Français)herzzerreißend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ehartbreaking
haertbreaking
hearbtreaking
hearrtbreaking
heartbbreaking
heartberaking
heartbraeking
heartbreaikng
heartbreakign
heartbreakingg
heartbreakinng
heartbreakking
heartbreaknig
heartbrekaing
heartbrreaking
heartrbeaking
hearttbreaking
heatrbreaking
heratbreaking
hheartbreaking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "heartbreaking"

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 "heartbreaking"?

"heartbreaking" is spelled H-E-A-R-T-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.

What does "heartbreaking" mean?

As an adjective, "heartbreaking" means: That causes great grief, anguish or distress.

What are common misspellings of "heartbreaking"?

Common misspellings include "ehartbreaking", "haertbreaking", "hearbtreaking", "hearrtbreaking", "heartbbreaking". The correct spelling is "heartbreaking".

What is the origin of the word "heartbreaking"?

From heart + breaking. 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 "heartbreaking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

comprehension#13,488 complementary#13,688 interrogation#13,738 multinational#13,765

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (20 here; floor ≥5).

transporting20 variants schizophrenia20 variants constructing20 variants compatibility20 variants