perplexing
/pɚˈplɛksɪŋ/
"perplexing" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perplexing” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,533 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #32,533
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That causes perplexity.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perplexing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɚˈplɛksɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #32,533 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perplexing” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for perplexing is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɚˈplɛksɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,533 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "That causes perplexity.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for perplexing, with forms such as "eprplexing", "peprlexing", and "perlpexing". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is perplexing, spelled P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1That causes perplexity.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eprplexing,peprlexing,perlpexing,perpelxing,perpleixng,perplexign,perplexingg,perplexinng,perplexnig,perplexxing,perpllexing,perplxeing,perpplexing,perrplexing,pperplexing,preplexing
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of perplexing - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “perplexing”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɚˈplɛksɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.