ongoing
/ɒnˈɡəʊ.ɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
ongoing is spelled O-N-G-O-I-N-G: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “on-going vs ongoing” about 1,300 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, ongoing means “Continuing, permanent, lasting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ongoing?
| Letters | 7: O-N-G-O-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ongoing?
Ongoing appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd 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 ongoing?
- UK /ɒnˈɡəʊ.ɪŋ/
- British /ɔnˈɡəwɪŋ/
- /ɑnˈɡoʊ.ɪŋ/
Ongoing has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ongoing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with ongoing
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: on-going (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with ongoing?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ongoing from its last stressed vowel (/əʊɪŋ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ongoing
- ongoings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ongoing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Continuing, permanent, lasting.
- 2
Presently or currently happening; being in progress.
noun
- 1
Something that is going on; a happening.
verb
- 1
rarepresent participle and gerund of ongo
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ongoing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | continuel, permanent, continu , actuel, en cours |
| German | ständig, permanent, andauernd, anhaltend, immerwährend, fortlaufend |
| Portuguese | contínuo, em curso, em andamento , corrente |
| Spanish | continuo, continuante , actual, en progreso, en curso, en desarrollo |
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 ongoing come from?
From on + going, related to the phrasal verb go on.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).