jaywalking

noun

"jaywalking" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“jaywalking” is uncommon English (frequency #58,122 among 4,872 “J” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,122
frequency rank, English
4,872
“J” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of behaving as a jaywalker.

Corpus desk

Index EN-jaywalking · jaywalking · English

jaywalking · rank #58,122 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,122
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,872
  • PHOTO-FINISH Janesville

Nearest frequency peer: Janesville (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “jaywalking”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “jaywalking” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for jaywalking
PropertyValue
Headwordjaywalking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#58,122
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “jaywalking” 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). jaywalking lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

jaywalking is uncommon English at frequency #58,122 among 4,872 “J” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An act of behaving as a jaywalker.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for jaywalking, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from jaywalker. Analyzable as jaywalk + -ing, or jay (“a stupid person”) + walking. The correct English form is jaywalking, spelled J-A-Y-W-A-L-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of behaving as a jaywalker.

Etymology

Back-formation from jaywalker. Analyzable as jaywalk + -ing, or jay (“a stupid person”) + walking.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "jaywalking"?
"jaywalking" is spelled J-A-Y-W-A-L-K-I-N-G.
What does "jaywalking" mean?
As a noun, "jaywalking" means: An act of behaving as a jaywalker.
What is the origin of the word "jaywalking"?
Back-formation from jaywalker. Analyzable as jaywalk + -ing, or jay (“a stupid person”) + walking. 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 "jaywalking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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