surpassing

adj

"surpassing" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“surpassing” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,410. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,410
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Becoming superior to others; becoming excellent; exceptional; exceeding.

Corpus desk

Index EN-surpassing · surpassing · English

surpassing · rank #23,410 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #23,410
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH swirling

Nearest frequency peer: swirling (+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 “surpassing”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “surpassing” 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).

surpassing vs surprising
80% similar

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

Key facts for surpassing
PropertyValue
Headwordsurpassing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters10
Frequency rank#23,410
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “surpassing”

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).surpassinglands 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 “swirling” (#23,411), “stupidest” (#23,408), “Sy” (#23,412). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “surpassing” is #23,410. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around surpassing, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #23,410 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Becoming superior to others; becoming excellent; exceptional; exceeding.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for surpassing, with forms such as "srupassing", "ssurpassing", and "suprassing". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "surprising", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is surpassing, spelled S-U-R-P-A-S-S-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Becoming superior to others; becoming excellent; exceptional; exceeding.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "Yet once again," exclaimed he, passionately, "let me gaze on that beautiful and beloved face! let me see if sorrow has cast a shadow on its surpassing loveliness! I will not let her know how near I am, and how wretched! No, in secret and in silence will I look upon her once more; and then, farewell for ever!"

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • srupassing
  • ssurpassing
  • suprassing
  • surapssing
  • surpasing
  • surpasisng
  • surpassign
  • surpassingg
  • surpassinng
  • surpassnig
  • surppassing
  • surpsasing
  • surrpassing
  • usrpassing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

srupassing2ssurpassing1suprassing2surapssing2surpasing1surpasisng2surpassign2surpassingg1
Edit distance from "surpassing"

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 "surpassing"?
"surpassing" is spelled S-U-R-P-A-S-S-I-N-G.
What does "surpassing" mean?
As an adjective, "surpassing" means: Becoming superior to others; becoming excellent; exceptional; exceeding.
What words are commonly confused with "surpassing"?
"surpassing" is commonly confused with "surprising". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "surpassing" come from?
"surpassing" 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 "surpassing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list