sperling

noun

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

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

The verdict

“sperling” is uncommon English (frequency #59,039 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,039
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus).

Corpus desk

Index EN-sperling · sperling · English

sperling · rank #59,039 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,039
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spangler

Nearest frequency peer: spangler (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “sperling”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sperling” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sperling
PropertyValue
Headwordsperling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#59,039
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sperling” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sperlingfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “spangler” (#59,038), “soundscape” (#59,037), “spurrier” (#59,041). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sperling” is #59,039. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sperling is uncommon English at frequency #59,039 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

sperling doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of sparling. The correct English form is sperling, spelled S-P-E-R-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus).
  2. 2
    A young herring.

Etymology

Alteration of sparling.

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 "sperling"?
"sperling" is spelled S-P-E-R-L-I-N-G.
What does "sperling" mean?
As a noun, "sperling" means: A European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus).
What is the origin of the word "sperling"?
Alteration of sparling. 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 "sperling", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

spangler#59,038spurrier#59,041snowshoe#59,030stressor#59,051

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list