insulting

/ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ/

//ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ// adj

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

"insulting" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“insulting” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,237. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,237
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Containing insult, or having the intention of insulting.

Corpus desk

Index EN-insulting · insulting · English

insulting · rank #11,237 · 14 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,237
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH indictment

Nearest frequency peer: indictment (-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 “insulting”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “insulting” 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).

insulting vs insulin
78% similar
insulting vs insisting
78% similar
insulting vs inserting
78% similar

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

Key facts for insulting
PropertyValue
Headwordinsulting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ/
Letters9
Frequency rank#11,237
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “insulting”

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).insultinglands 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 “indictment” (#11,236), “irregular” (#11,238), “idle” (#11,235). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “insulting” is #11,237. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around insulting (IPA /ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #11,237 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Containing insult, or having the intention of insulting.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for insulting, with forms such as "innsulting", "insluting", and "inssulting". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "insulin", "insisting", "inserting", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 insulting, spelled I-N-S-U-L-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Containing insult, or having the intention of insulting.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He received an insulting letter.
  2. Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and frankly insulting. The antisemitic sentiment Musk endorsed had nothing to do with Israel; “replacement theory” is generally an unsupported allegation that Jews and other immigrants in the US and Europe are destroying Western civilization.

This word in other languages

afrentoso(Español)outrageant(Français)beleidigend(Deutsch)injurioso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • innsulting
  • insluting
  • inssulting
  • insulitng
  • insullting
  • insultign
  • insultingg
  • insultinng
  • insultnig
  • insultting
  • insutling
  • inuslting
  • isnulting
  • nisulting

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

innsulting1insluting2inssulting1insulitng2insullting1insultign2insultingg1insultinng1
Edit distance from "insulting"

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 "insulting"?
"insulting" is spelled I-N-S-U-L-T-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ/.
What does "insulting" mean?
As an adjective, "insulting" means: Containing insult, or having the intention of insulting.
What words are commonly confused with "insulting"?
"insulting" is commonly confused with "insulin", "insisting", "inserting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "insulting"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "insulting" is /ɪnˈsʌltɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "insulting" come from?
"insulting" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "insulting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

irregular#11,238premature#11,272residency#11,278chronicle#11,181

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

accumulated14 variantswhichever14 variantsbroadband14 variantsfootsteps14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list