interrupting

verb

"interrupting" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“interrupting” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,143 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#20,143
frequency rank, English
12
letters
17
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of interrupt

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

interrupting vs interruption
83% similar

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

Key facts for interrupting
PropertyValue
Headwordinterrupting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters12
Frequency rank#20,143
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “interrupting” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). interrupting lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for interrupting is 12 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #20,143 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of interrupt".

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for interrupting, with forms such as "inetrrupting", "innterrupting", and "interrputing". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "interruption", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is interrupting, spelled I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of interrupt

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: inetrrupting,innterrupting,interrputing,interrupitng,interruppting,interruptign,interruptingg,interruptinng,interruptnig,interruptting,interrutping,interupting,interurpting,intrerupting,intterrupting,itnerrupting,niterrupting

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of interrupting - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

inetrrupting2innterrupting1interrputing2interrupitng2interruppting1interruptign2interruptingg1interruptinng1
Edit distance from "interrupting"

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 "interrupting"?
"interrupting" is spelled I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-I-N-G.
What does "interrupting" mean?
As a verb, "interrupting" means: present participle and gerund of interrupt
What words are commonly confused with "interrupting"?
"interrupting" is commonly confused with "interruption". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "interrupting" come from?
"interrupting" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “interrupting”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “interruption” - see the side-by-side comparison. interrupting vs interruption
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list