smiling

/ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/

//ˈsmaɪlɪŋ// adj

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

"smiling" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“smiling” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,628. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,628
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That smiles or has a smile.

Corpus desk

Index EN-smiling · smiling · English

smiling · rank #5,628 · 11 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,628
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sends

Nearest frequency peer: sends (-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 “smiling”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “smiling” 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).

smiling vs smoking
71% similar
smiling vs styling
71% similar
smiling vs sniping
71% similar

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

Key facts for smiling
PropertyValue
Headwordsmiling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#5,628
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “smiling”

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).smilinglands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sends” (#5,627), “soup” (#5,629), “screening” (#5,626). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “smiling” is #5,628. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around smiling (IPA /ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,628 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "That smiles or has a smile.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for smiling, with forms such as "msiling", "simling", and "smiilng". 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, "smoking", "styling", "sniping", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is smiling, spelled S-M-I-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    That smiles or has a smile.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. smiling children
  2. Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

Antonyms

unsmiling

This word in other languages

sonriente(Español)souriant(Français)lächelnd(Deutsch)risonho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • msiling
  • simling
  • smiilng
  • smilign
  • smilingg
  • smilinng
  • smilling
  • smilnig
  • smliing
  • smmiling
  • ssmiling

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

msiling2simling2smiilng2smilign2smilingg1smilinng1smilling1smilnig2
Edit distance from "smiling"

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 "smiling"?
"smiling" is spelled S-M-I-L-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/.
What does "smiling" mean?
As an adjective, "smiling" means: That smiles or has a smile.
What words are commonly confused with "smiling"?
"smiling" is commonly confused with "smoking", "styling", "sniping". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "smiling"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "smiling" is /ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "smiling" come from?
"smiling" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "smiling", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stating#5,632quietly#5,620torture#5,639podcast#5,615

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

timeline11 variantsbinding11 variantselderly11 variantscasting11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list