nearness

noun

"nearness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nearness” is uncommon English (frequency #71,729 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,729
frequency rank, English
1,534
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being near; closeness; intimacy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nearness · nearness · English

nearness · rank #71,729 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,729
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH Nazarbayev

Nearest frequency peer: Nazarbayev (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “nearness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “nearness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nearness
PropertyValue
Headwordnearness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#71,729
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nearness” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).nearnessfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Nazarbayev” (#71,728), “Naxos” (#71,727), “needling” (#71,731). Among 1,534 “N” headwords, “nearness” is #71,729. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nearness is uncommon English at frequency #71,729 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

nearness doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English nernes, equivalent to near + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian nearens (“nearness”). The correct English form is nearness, spelled N-E-A-R-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being near; closeness; intimacy.
  2. 2
    Stinginess.

Etymology

From Middle English nernes, equivalent to near + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian nearens (“nearness”).

Synonyms

Antonyms

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 "nearness"?
"nearness" is spelled N-E-A-R-N-E-S-S.
What does "nearness" mean?
As a noun, "nearness" means: The state of being near; closeness; intimacy.
What is the origin of the word "nearness"?
From Middle English nernes, equivalent to near + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian nearens (“nearness”). 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 "nearness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list