mulling

noun

"mulling" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mulling” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #44,354 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#44,354
frequency rank, English
7
letters
9
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of one who mulls or thinks over something.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

mulling vs muslin
71% similar
mulling vs musing
71% similar
mulling vs Mullins
71% similar

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

Key facts for mulling
PropertyValue
Headwordmulling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#44,354
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mulling” 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). mulling 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 mulling is 7 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #44,354 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The act of one who mulls or thinks over something.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for mulling, with forms such as "mluling", "mmulling", and "mulilng". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "muslin", "musing", "Mullins", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is mulling, spelled M-U-L-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of one who mulls or thinks over something.

Synonyms

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mluling,mmulling,mulilng,muling,mullign,mullingg,mullinng,mullnig,umlling

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mulling - 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.

mluling2mmulling1mulilng2muling1mullign2mullingg1mullinng1mullnig2
Edit distance from "mulling"

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 "mulling"?
"mulling" is spelled M-U-L-L-I-N-G.
What does "mulling" mean?
As a noun, "mulling" means: The act of one who mulls or thinks over something.
What words are commonly confused with "mulling"?
"mulling" is commonly confused with "muslin", "musing", "Mullins". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "mulling" come from?
"mulling" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “mulling”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-U-L-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “muslin” - see the side-by-side comparison. mulling vs muslin
  • 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