shearing

adj

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

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

The verdict

“shearing” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,281. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,281
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tending to cut or tear.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shearing · shearing · English

shearing · rank #34,281 · 12 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,281
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shamrock

Nearest frequency peer: shamrock (-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 “shearing”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shearing” 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).

shearing vs staring
75% similar
shearing vs soaring
75% similar
shearing vs sparing
75% similar

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

Key facts for shearing
PropertyValue
Headwordshearing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Frequency rank#34,281
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shearing”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shearinglands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “shamrock” (#34,280), “shelving” (#34,282), “sequentially” (#34,279). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shearing” is #34,281. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around shearing, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #34,281 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Tending to cut or tear.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for shearing, with forms such as "hsearing", "seharing", and "shaering". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "staring", "soaring", "sparing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scherynge; equivalent to shear + -ing. The correct English form is shearing, spelled S-H-E-A-R-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tending to cut or tear.

Etymology

From Middle English scherynge; equivalent to shear + -ing.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsearing
  • seharing
  • shaering
  • sheairng
  • shearign
  • shearingg
  • shearinng
  • shearnig
  • shearring
  • sheraing
  • shhearing
  • sshearing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shearing - 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.

hsearing2seharing2shaering2sheairng2shearign2shearingg1shearinng1shearnig2
Edit distance from "shearing"

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 "shearing"?
"shearing" is spelled S-H-E-A-R-I-N-G.
What does "shearing" mean?
As an adjective, "shearing" means: Tending to cut or tear.
What words are commonly confused with "shearing"?
"shearing" is commonly confused with "staring", "soaring", "sparing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "shearing"?
From Middle English scherynge; equivalent to shear + -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 "shearing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

shamrock#34,280shelving#34,282seething#34,277savagery#34,273

Similar misspelling depth

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

spoonful12 variantsreprisal12 variantsPyrenees12 variantspunisher12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list