misgiving
/mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/
"misgiving" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“misgiving” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread
Corpus desk
Index EN-misgiving · misgiving · English
misgiving · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | misgiving |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “misgiving” in English
Rare enough to double-check
misgiving is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread".
misgiving doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From misgive, from mis- + give, from Middle English give (“suggest, given”). Compare given and what gives. The correct English form is misgiving, spelled M-I-S-G-I-V-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how misgiving appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He could think of her being there, without a lurking misgiving that it would have been better if she had not come.
In the night, or the gloomy chambers of the day, fears and misgivings wax strong, but out in the sunlight there is, for a time, cessation even of the terror of death.
Etymology
From misgive, from mis- + give, from Middle English give (“suggest, given”). Compare given and what gives.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.