stillness

/ˈstɪlnəs/

//ˈstɪlnəs// noun

"stillness" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stillness” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,846. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,846
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality or state of being still.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stillness · stillness · English

stillness · rank #29,846 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,846
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH structuring

Nearest frequency peer: structuring (+2 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 “stillness”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “stillness” 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).

stillness vs stiffness
78% similar
stillness vs silliness
78% similar

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

Key facts for stillness
PropertyValue
Headwordstillness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstɪlnəs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#29,846
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stillness”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).stillnesslands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “structuring” (#29,848), “stupidly” (#29,849), “snooze” (#29,842). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stillness” is #29,846. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around stillness (IPA /ˈstɪlnəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,846 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for stillness, with forms such as "sitllness", "sstillness", and "stillenss". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "stiffness", "silliness", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes (“stillness, quiet; absence of noise or disturbance, release, relaxation; silence, abstention from speech; absence of disturbance or molestation, tranquility, peace, security; that which appeases”), eq… The correct English form is stillness, spelled S-T-I-L-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality or state of being still.
  2. 2
    Habitual silence or quiet; taciturnity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The teru-tero (Vanellus cayanensis), is another bird, which often disturbs the stillness of the night.
  2. It resembled them in the sense that it was not ended, when it was past, but continued to unfold, in Watt's head, from beginning to end, over and over again, the complex connexions of its lights and shadows, the passing from silence to sound and from sound to silence, the stillness before the movement and the stillness after, the quickenings and retardings…

Etymology

From Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes (“stillness, quiet; absence of noise or disturbance, release, relaxation; silence, abstention from speech; absence of disturbance or molestation, tranquility, peace, security; that which appeases”), equivalent to still + -ness.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sitllness
  • sstillness
  • stillenss
  • stillnes
  • stillnness
  • stillnses
  • stilness
  • stilnless
  • stlilness
  • sttillness
  • tsillness

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

sitllness2sstillness1stillenss2stillnes1stillnness1stillnses2stilness1stilnless2
Edit distance from "stillness"

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 "stillness"?
"stillness" is spelled S-T-I-L-L-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɪlnəs/.
What does "stillness" mean?
As a noun, "stillness" means: The quality or state of being still.
What words are commonly confused with "stillness"?
"stillness" is commonly confused with "stiffness", "silliness". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stillness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stillness" is /ˈstɪlnəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "stillness"?
From Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes (“stillness, quiet; absence of noise or disturbance, release, relaxation; silence, abstention from speech; absence of disturbance or molestation, tranquility, peace, security; that which appe... 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 "stillness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list