killing
/ˈkɪl.ɪŋ/
"killing" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“killing” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,397. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,397
- frequency rank, English
- 1,236
- “K” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That literally deprives of life; lethal, deadly, fatal.
Corpus desk
Index EN-killing · killing · English
killing · rank #1,397 · 9 variants · 6 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,397
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,236
- PHOTO-FINISH holy
Nearest frequency peer: holy (-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 “killing”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- eventually
eventually
98,607 corpus weight
- helped
helped
98,606 corpus weight
- holy
holy
98,605 corpus weight
- killing
killing
98,604 corpus weight
- lived
lived
98,603 corpus weight
- lots
lots
98,602 corpus weight
What this shows “killing” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | killing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɪl.ɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,397 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “killing”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around killing (IPA /ˈkɪl.ɪŋ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,397 among 1,236 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for killing, with forms such as "iklling", "kililng", and "kiling". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "kissing", "Kipling", "kindling", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English kyllyng; equivalent to kill + -ing. The correct English form is killing, spelled K-I-L-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1That literally deprives of life; lethal, deadly, fatal.
- 2Devastatingly attractive.
- 3That makes one ‘die’ with laughter; very funny.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how killing appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Should true Proportion ev'ry Mortal grace, / And Semetry be seen in ev'ry Face: / Beauty no longer would be thought divine, / Nor would its Charms with half the Lustre shine: / No courtly Dame a killing Look could boast, / If once the Foils of Homeliness were lost.
He sprang to open the door for the ladies, when they retired, with the most killing grace […]
Etymology
From Middle English kyllyng; equivalent to kill + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- iklling
- kililng
- kiling
- killign
- killingg
- killinng
- killnig
- kkilling
- kliling
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of killing - 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.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "killing", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).