illuminating
il·lu·mi·nat·ing/ɪˈluməneɪtɪŋ/adjective, verb
illuminating is spelled I-L-L-U-M-I-N-A-T-I-N-G: 12 letters and 5 syllables (il·lu·mi·nat·ing). It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, illuminating means “Providing illumination or light” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in illuminating?
| Letters | 12: I-L-L-U-M-I-N-A-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: il·lu·mi·nat·ing |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is illuminating?
Illuminating appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce illuminating?
- UK /ɪˈl(j)uːmɪneɪtɪŋ/
- US /ɪˈluməneɪtɪŋ/
- US /ə-/
Illuminating has 5 syllables, split il·lu·mi·nat·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-AnotherFriendlyHuman-illuminating.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of illuminating
- more illuminating comparative
- most illuminating superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does illuminating mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Providing illumination or light.
- 2
Providing clarification or explanation; educational, revealing.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of illuminate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does illuminating come from?
From illuminate + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).