spooning

verb

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

The verdict

“spooning” is uncommon English (frequency #53,271 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,271
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of spoon

Key facts for spooning
PropertyValue
Headwordspooning
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Frequency rank#53,271
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “spooning” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spooning is uncommon English at frequency #53,271 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of spoon".

spooning doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: The sense denoting nestled repose is by metaphor with the way that spoons stack together compactly. The correct English form is spooning, spelled S-P-O-O-N-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of spoon

Etymology

The sense denoting nestled repose is by metaphor with the way that spoons stack together compactly.

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 "spooning"?
"spooning" is spelled S-P-O-O-N-I-N-G.
What does "spooning" mean?
As a verb, "spooning" means: present participle and gerund of spoon
What is the origin of the word "spooning"?
The sense denoting nestled repose is by metaphor with the way that spoons stack together compactly. 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.

Using “spooning”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-P-O-O-N-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list