hinting

/ˈhɪntɪŋ/

//ˈhɪntɪŋ// noun

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

The verdict

“hinting” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,410. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,410
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of giving a hint or suggestion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hinting · hinting · English

hinting · rank #25,410 · 11 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,410
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hoarding

Nearest frequency peer: hoarding (+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 “hinting”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “hinting” 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).

hinting vs hiring
71% similar
hinting vs Hinton
57% similar
hinting vs honing
71% similar

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

Key facts for hinting
PropertyValue
Headwordhinting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɪntɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#25,410
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hinting”

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).hintinglands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “hoarding” (#25,411), “hijacking” (#25,408), “hereafter” (#25,407). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hinting” is #25,410. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around hinting (IPA /ˈhɪntɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,410 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for hinting, with forms such as "hhinting", "hinitng", and "hinnting". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "hiring", "Hinton", "honing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is hinting, spelled H-I-N-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of giving a hint or suggestion.
  2. 2
    The process of adding hints to a computer-based font in order to align the glyphs to a rasterized grid at specific sizes in a visually appealing manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Risa herself was questioned, as she expected, but the ladies took their cue from Marie and appeared content with her somewhat short answers, even when she only turned her gaze downward and blushed at the hintings at her betrothal.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhinting
  • hinitng
  • hinnting
  • hintign
  • hintingg
  • hintinng
  • hintnig
  • hintting
  • hitning
  • hniting
  • ihnting

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hinting - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hhinting1hinitng2hinnting1hintign2hintingg1hintinng1hintnig2hintting1
Edit distance from "hinting"

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 "hinting"?
"hinting" is spelled H-I-N-T-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɪntɪŋ/.
What does "hinting" mean?
As a noun, "hinting" means: The act of giving a hint or suggestion.
What words are commonly confused with "hinting"?
"hinting" is commonly confused with "hiring", "Hinton", "honing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hinting"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hinting" is /ˈhɪntɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hinting" come from?
"hinting" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "hinting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list