ravening

/ˈɹævənɪŋ/

//ˈɹævənɪŋ// adj

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

The verdict

“ravening” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Voracious and greedy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ravening · ravening · English

ravening · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "R" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for ravening
PropertyValue
Headwordravening
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɹævənɪŋ/
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ravening” in English

raveningfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ravening is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹævənɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ravening, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Present participle of the obsolete verb raven (“to prey”). The correct English form is ravening, spelled R-A-V-E-N-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Voracious and greedy.
  2. 2
    Subject to the voracity of a predator.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. There is no shortage of ravening friends and relatives on the day one hits the lottery.
  2. 1555, Richard Eden (translator), The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India by Pietro Martire d’Anghiera, London: Edward Sutton, Decade 3, Book 5, p. 116, They eate mans fleshe but seldome, bycause they meete not oftentymes with strangiers, except they goo foorth of theyr owne dominions with a mayne army of purpose to hunt for men, when theyr rauenynge…

Etymology

Present participle of the obsolete verb raven (“to prey”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ravening"?
"ravening" is spelled R-A-V-E-N-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹævənɪŋ/.
What does "ravening" mean?
As an adjective, "ravening" means: Voracious and greedy.
How do you pronounce "ravening"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ravening" is /ˈɹævənɪŋ/. 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 "ravening"?
Present participle of the obsolete verb raven (“to prey”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list