icing

/ˈaɪsɪŋ/

//ˈaɪsɪŋ// noun

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

"icing" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“icing” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,191. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,191
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar, often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, or flavorings, typically used for baked goods.

Corpus desk

Index EN-icing · icing · English

icing · rank #15,191 · 7 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,191
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH hue

Nearest frequency peer: hue (-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 “icing”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “icing” 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).

icing vs icon
60% similar
icing vs Irina
40% similar
icing vs inning
67% similar

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

Key facts for icing
PropertyValue
Headwordicing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈaɪsɪŋ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#15,191
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “icing”

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).icinglands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “hue” (#15,190), “horsepower” (#15,189), “IKEA” (#15,193). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “icing” is #15,191. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around icing (IPA /ˈaɪsɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,191 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for icing, with forms such as "ciing", "iccing", and "icign". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "icon", "Irina", "inning", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Gerund of the verb to ice. The correct English form is icing, spelled I-C-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar, often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, or flavorings, typically used for baked goods.
  2. 2
    A minor violation of ice hockey rules, occurring when a player shoots the puck from his/her side of the red line so that it crosses the goal line on the opponent's side. A team playing short-handed is not penalized for this.
  3. 3
    The process of forming a layer of ice on a surface.
  4. 4
    Conditions conducive to the formation of ice on aircraft surfaces.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. THICK FLUFFY ICING At the present time there is a demand for very light fluffy icing that may be piled high on a cake. For beating many of the icings of this variety an electric beater is used, and the syrup is added very slowly.
  2. The Cessna pilots reported that moderate icing was present between 13,000 and 4,000 feet in the cloud layers.

Etymology

Gerund of the verb to ice.

This word in other languages

glaseado(Español)glaçage(Français)Zuckerguss(Deutsch)glacê(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ciing
  • iccing
  • icign
  • icingg
  • icinng
  • icnig
  • iicng

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of icing - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ciing2iccing1icign2icingg1icinng1icnig2iicng2
Edit distance from "icing"

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 "icing"?
"icing" is spelled I-C-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈaɪsɪŋ/.
What does "icing" mean?
As a noun, "icing" means: A sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar, often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, or flavorings, typically used for baked goods.
What words are commonly confused with "icing"?
"icing" is commonly confused with "icon", "Irina", "inning". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "icing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "icing" is /ˈaɪsɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "icing"?
Gerund of the verb to ice. 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 "icing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

jihad#15,200lapse#15,206login#15,212fella#15,166

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

mimic7 variantsmural7 variantsnasal7 variantsOprah7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list