shortcoming
/ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ/
"shortcoming" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shortcoming” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,046 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #49,046
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 18
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A deficiency or falling short; failure to attain a goal or ideal.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shortcoming |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #49,046 |
| Misspellings tracked | 18 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shortcoming” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shortcoming is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,046 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A deficiency or falling short; failure to attain a goal or ideal.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for shortcoming, with forms such as "hsortcoming", "shhortcoming", and "shorctoming". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "shortcomings", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From short + coming. The correct English form is shortcoming, spelled S-H-O-R-T-C-O-M-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1A deficiency or falling short; failure to attain a goal or ideal.
Etymology
From short + coming.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsortcoming,shhortcoming,shorctoming,shorrtcoming,shortccoming,shortcmoing,shortcoimng,shortcomign,shortcomingg,shortcominng,shortcomming,shortcomnig,shortocming,shorttcoming,shotrcoming,shrotcoming,sohrtcoming,sshortcoming
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shortcoming - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "shortcoming"?
What does "shortcoming" mean?
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Using “shortcoming”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-O-R-T-C-O-M-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shortcomings” - see the side-by-side comparison. shortcoming vs shortcomings
- 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.