ongoing
"ongoing" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ongoing” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,177 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,177
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Continuing, permanent, lasting.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ongoing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #4,177 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ongoing” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ongoing is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #4,177 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for ongoing, with forms such as "nogoing", "ognoing", and "onggoing". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "outgoing", "oncoming", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From on + going, related to the phrasal verb go on. The correct English form is ongoing, spelled O-N-G-O-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Continuing, permanent, lasting.
- 2Presently or currently happening; being in progress.
Etymology
From on + going, related to the phrasal verb go on.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: nogoing,ognoing,onggoing,ongiong,ongoign,ongoingg,ongoinng,ongonig,onngoing,onoging
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ongoing - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “ongoing”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-N-G-O-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “outgoing” - see the side-by-side comparison. ongoing vs outgoing
- 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.