painstaking
/ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/
"painstaking" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“painstaking” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,690. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #31,690
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 17
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Carefully attentive to details; studious; diligent in performing a process or procedure.
Corpus desk
Index EN-painstaking · painstaking · English
painstaking · rank #31,690 · 17 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #31,690
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 17 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH paddling
Nearest frequency peer: paddling (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “painstaking”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- overseer
overseer
68,314 corpus weight
- overstated
overstated
68,313 corpus weight
- paddling
paddling
68,312 corpus weight
- painstaking
painstaking
68,311 corpus weight
- pall
pall
68,310 corpus weight
- panzer
panzer
68,308 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “painstaking” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | painstaking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #31,690 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “painstaking” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 17 spelling variants around painstaking (IPA /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #31,690 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Carefully attentive to details; studious; diligent in performing a process or procedure.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for painstaking, with forms such as "apinstaking", "painnstaking", and "painsatking". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "painstakingly", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pains + taking; see take pains. The /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/ pronunciation which dominates in the United States suggests a reanalysis of the word as pain + staking. The correct English form is painstaking, spelled P-A-I-N-S-T-A-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Carefully attentive to details; studious; diligent in performing a process or procedure.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how painstaking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
All these painstaking men, considered together, may be said to have completed another species of criticism.
It is hoped to feature the historic vehicles to be found on the line in a future article, so that full justice may be done to the painstaking work of renovation on many of them, such as the North Eastern Railway Coach Group's NER autocoach No 3453.
Etymology
From pains + taking; see take pains. The /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/ pronunciation which dominates in the United States suggests a reanalysis of the word as pain + staking.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- apinstaking
- painnstaking
- painsatking
- painsstaking
- painstaikng
- painstakign
- painstakingg
- painstakinng
- painstakking
- painstaknig
- painstkaing
- painsttaking
- paintsaking
- paisntaking
- panistaking
- pianstaking
- ppainstaking
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of painstaking - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "painstaking"?
What does "painstaking" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "painstaking"?
How do you pronounce "painstaking"?
What is the origin of the word "painstaking"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "painstaking", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "painstaking". Here's where to go from here.
- This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "painstakingly". View pair
- 17 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #31,690 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.