lingering
ling·er·ing/ˈlɪŋɡəɹɪŋ/noun, verb
lingering is spelled L-I-N-G-E-R-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables (ling·er·ing). It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lingering means “That which lingers; a remnant” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lingering is lingerings.
How many letters and syllables are in lingering?
| Letters | 9: L-I-N-G-E-R-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ling·er·ing |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th 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 lingering?
Lingering appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th 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 lingering?
- US /ˈlɪŋɡəɹɪŋ/
- US /ˈlɪŋɡɹɪŋ/
Lingering has 3 syllables, split ling·er·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lingering.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lingering
- lingerings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lingering mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
gerund of linger: an act of loitering or waiting.
- 2
That which lingers; a remnant.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of linger
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lingering in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of lingering or waiting:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | persistente, prolongado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lingering come from?
From linger + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).