horripilating
/hɒˌɹɪpɪˈleɪtɪŋ/
"horripilating" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“horripilating” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Causing horripilation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | horripilating |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /hɒˌɹɪpɪˈleɪtɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “horripilating” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for horripilating is 13 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɒˌɹɪpɪˈleɪtɪŋ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
horripilating has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From horripilate + -ing. The correct English form is horripilating, spelled H-O-R-R-I-P-I-L-A-T-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Causing horripilation.
- 2Horrendous, horrifying, terrifying.
Etymology
From horripilate + -ing.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “horripilating”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-R-R-I-P-I-L-A-T-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɒˌɹɪpɪˈleɪtɪŋ/ (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.