self-denying

adj

"self-denying" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-self-denying · self-denying · English

self-denying · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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 self-denying
PropertyValue
Headwordself-denying
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “self-denying” in English

self-denyingranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

self-denying is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for self-denying, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From self- + denying. The correct English form is self-denying, spelled S-E-L-F---D-E-N-Y-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.

Etymology

From self- + denying.

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 "self-denying"?
"self-denying" is spelled S-E-L-F---D-E-N-Y-I-N-G.
What does "self-denying" mean?
As an adjective, "self-denying" means: Without concern for one's own advantage; selfless or self-sacrificing.
What is the origin of the word "self-denying"?
From self- + denying. 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