retreating

noun

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

"retreating" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“retreating” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,478. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,478
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of moving back from something; a retreat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-retreating · retreating · English

retreating · rank #20,478 · 15 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,478
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH restrain

Nearest frequency peer: restrain (-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 “retreating”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “retreating” 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).

retreating vs repeating
80% similar
retreating vs rereading
80% similar
retreating vs regretting
80% similar

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

Key facts for retreating
PropertyValue
Headwordretreating
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#20,478
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “retreating”

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).retreatinglands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “restrain” (#20,477), “richly” (#20,479), “redistribution” (#20,475). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “retreating” is #20,478. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around retreating, anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,478 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The act of moving back from something; a retreat.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for retreating, with forms such as "ertreating", "rerteating", and "reterating". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "repeating", "rereading", "regretting", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is retreating, spelled R-E-T-R-E-A-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of moving back from something; a retreat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. But of the marchings and retreatings of these Six-thousand no Xenophon exists. Nothing, but an inarticulate hum, of cursing and sooty frenzy, surviving dubious in the memory of ages!

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ertreating
  • rerteating
  • reterating
  • retraeting
  • retreaitng
  • retreatign
  • retreatingg
  • retreatinng
  • retreatnig
  • retreatting
  • retretaing
  • retrreating
  • rettreating
  • rretreating
  • rtereating

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ertreating2rerteating2reterating2retraeting2retreaitng2retreatign2retreatingg1retreatinng1
Edit distance from "retreating"

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 "retreating"?
"retreating" is spelled R-E-T-R-E-A-T-I-N-G.
What does "retreating" mean?
As a noun, "retreating" means: The act of moving back from something; a retreat.
What words are commonly confused with "retreating"?
"retreating" is commonly confused with "repeating", "rereading", "regretting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "retreating" come from?
"retreating" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "retreating", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

precarious#20,463straighten#20,508transverse#20,520minimizing#20,429

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

reassurance15 variantstrembling15 variantsunprepared15 variantsunsuitable15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list