sticking

/ˈstɪkɪŋ/

//ˈstɪkɪŋ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“sticking” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,964. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,964
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of stick

Corpus desk

Index EN-sticking · sticking · English

sticking · rank #6,964 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,964
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH starter

Nearest frequency peer: starter (-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 “sticking”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sticking” 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).

sticking vs sucking
75% similar
sticking vs striking
75% similar
sticking vs stirring
75% similar

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

Key facts for sticking
PropertyValue
Headwordsticking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈstɪkɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,964
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sticking”

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

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “starter” (#6,963), “subscribe” (#6,965), “stakes” (#6,962). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sticking” is #6,964. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around sticking (IPA /ˈstɪkɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,964 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of stick".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for sticking, with forms such as "sitcking", "ssticking", and "stciking". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sucking", "striking", "stirring", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is sticking, spelled S-T-I-C-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of stick

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sitcking
  • ssticking
  • stciking
  • sticcking
  • sticikng
  • stickign
  • stickingg
  • stickinng
  • stickking
  • sticknig
  • stikcing
  • stticking
  • tsicking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sticking - 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.

sitcking2ssticking1stciking2sticcking1sticikng2stickign2stickingg1stickinng1
Edit distance from "sticking"

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 "sticking"?
"sticking" is spelled S-T-I-C-K-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɪkɪŋ/.
What does "sticking" mean?
As a verb, "sticking" means: present participle and gerund of stick
What words are commonly confused with "sticking"?
"sticking" is commonly confused with "sucking", "striking", "stirring". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sticking"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sticking" is /ˈstɪkɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sticking" come from?
"sticking" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "sticking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

superman#6,966premises#6,951platinum#6,948aluminum#6,984

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

congrats13 variantsjustified13 variantsisolation13 variantsPakistani13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list