smouldering
"smouldering" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“smouldering” is uncommon English (frequency #55,109 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,109
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Burning slowly, producing smoke but no flame.
Corpus desk
Index EN-smouldering · smouldering · English
smouldering · rank #55,109 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #55,109
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH skyway
Nearest frequency peer: skyway (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “smouldering”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- skylark
skylark
44,894 corpus weight
- skyway
skyway
44,893 corpus weight
- smouldering
smouldering
44,892 corpus weight
- sociocultur…
sociocultural
44,891 corpus weight
- Sokoto
Sokoto
44,890 corpus weight
- speculum
speculum
44,889 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “smouldering” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | smouldering |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #55,109 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “smouldering” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
smouldering is uncommon English at frequency #55,109 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Burning slowly, producing smoke but no flame.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for smouldering in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From smoulder + -ing. The correct English form is smouldering, spelled S-M-O-U-L-D-E-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Burning slowly, producing smoke but no flame.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how smouldering appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And if we meet again, some evil chance / Will make the smouldering scandal break and blaze / Before the people, and our lord the King.
The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.
Etymology
From smoulder + -ing.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "smouldering", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.