painting

/ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ/

//ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“painting” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,494. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,494
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An illustration or artwork done with the use of paint.

Corpus desk

Index EN-painting · painting · English

painting · rank #2,494 · 12 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,494
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH offering

Nearest frequency peer: offering (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “painting”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “painting” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

painting vs pining
75% similar
painting vs pairing
75% similar
painting vs parting
75% similar

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

Key facts for painting
PropertyValue
Headwordpainting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#2,494
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “painting”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).paintinglands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “offering” (#2,493), “republic” (#2,495), “newspaper” (#2,492). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “painting” is #2,494. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around painting (IPA /ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,494 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for painting, with forms such as "apinting", "painitng", and "painnting". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "pining", "pairing", "parting", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, paint + -ing. The correct English form is painting, spelled P-A-I-N-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    An illustration or artwork done with the use of paint.
  2. 2
    The action of applying paint to a surface.
  3. 3
    The same activity as an art form.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how painting appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings.
  2. "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…]."

Etymology

By surface analysis, paint + -ing.

Synonyms

painting

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apinting
  • painitng
  • painnting
  • paintign
  • paintingg
  • paintinng
  • paintnig
  • paintting
  • paitning
  • paniting
  • pianting
  • ppainting

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of painting - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

apinting2painitng2painnting1paintign2paintingg1paintinng1paintnig2paintting1
Edit distance from "painting"

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 "painting"?
"painting" is spelled P-A-I-N-T-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ/.
What does "painting" mean?
As a noun, "painting" means: An illustration or artwork done with the use of paint.
What words are commonly confused with "painting"?
"painting" is commonly confused with "pining", "pairing", "parting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "painting"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "painting" is /ˈpeɪn.tɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "painting"?
By surface analysis, paint + -ing. 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 "painting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

offering#2,493republic#2,495Scottish#2,501facility#2,484

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

territory12 variantsdirected12 variantsrelevant12 variantsdelivery12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list