straying

verb

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

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

The verdict

“straying” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #42,425. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,425
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 stray

Corpus desk

Index EN-straying · straying · English

straying · rank #42,425 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,425
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH steadfastly

Nearest frequency peer: steadfastly (-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 “straying”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “straying” 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).

straying vs string
75% similar
straying vs swaying
75% similar
straying vs studying
75% similar

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

Key facts for straying
PropertyValue
Headwordstraying
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Frequency rank#42,425
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “straying”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).strayinglands 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 “steadfastly” (#42,424), “streaking” (#42,426), “staunchly” (#42,423). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “straying” is #42,425. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around straying, averb. Corpus frequency is #42,425 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of stray".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for straying, with forms such as "srtaying", "sstraying", and "starying". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "string", "swaying", "studying", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is straying, spelled S-T-R-A-Y-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of stray

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Wire netting has been erected in many places to stop straying animals, and most of the level crossing gates are locked and broken.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • srtaying
  • sstraying
  • starying
  • straiyng
  • strayign
  • strayingg
  • strayinng
  • straynig
  • strayying
  • strraying
  • stryaing
  • sttraying
  • tsraying

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of straying - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

srtaying2sstraying1starying2straiyng2strayign2strayingg1strayinng1straynig2
Edit distance from "straying"

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 "straying"?
"straying" is spelled S-T-R-A-Y-I-N-G.
What does "straying" mean?
As a verb, "straying" means: present participle and gerund of stray
What words are commonly confused with "straying"?
"straying" is commonly confused with "string", "swaying", "studying". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "straying" come from?
"straying" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "straying", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

spinster#42,416Solomons#42,414Solihull#42,413tailings#42,443

Similar misspelling depth

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

thruster13 variantstrifling13 variantsundaunted13 variantswinemaker13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list