sweltering

adj

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

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

The verdict

“sweltering” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #47,364. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#47,364
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - hot and humid; oppressively sticky

Corpus desk

Index EN-sweltering · sweltering · English

sweltering · rank #47,364 · 16 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #47,364
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH survivability

Nearest frequency peer: survivability (-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 “sweltering”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sweltering” 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).

sweltering vs sheltering
90% similar

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

Key facts for sweltering
PropertyValue
Headwordsweltering
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters10
Frequency rank#47,364
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sweltering”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).swelteringlands 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 “survivability” (#47,363), “swooping” (#47,365), “surry” (#47,362). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sweltering” is #47,364. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around sweltering, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #47,364 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "hot and humid; oppressively sticky".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for sweltering, with forms such as "sewltering", "ssweltering", and "sweletring". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "sheltering", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From swelter + -ing. The correct English form is sweltering, spelled S-W-E-L-T-E-R-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    hot and humid; oppressively sticky

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The day was sweltering, so Lauren put on the shortest pair of shorts she could find and went to get ice-cream with her friend Rob.

Etymology

From swelter + -ing.

This word in other languages

sofocante(Español)étouffant(Français)verschmachtend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sewltering
  • ssweltering
  • sweletring
  • swelltering
  • swelteirng
  • swelterign
  • swelteringg
  • swelterinng
  • swelternig
  • swelterring
  • sweltreing
  • swelttering
  • swetlering
  • swletering
  • swweltering
  • wseltering

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

sewltering2ssweltering1sweletring2swelltering1swelteirng2swelterign2swelteringg1swelterinng1
Edit distance from "sweltering"

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 "sweltering"?
"sweltering" is spelled S-W-E-L-T-E-R-I-N-G.
What does "sweltering" mean?
As an adjective, "sweltering" means: hot and humid; oppressively sticky
What words are commonly confused with "sweltering"?
"sweltering" is commonly confused with "sheltering". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "sweltering"?
From swelter + -ing. 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 "sweltering", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

surfactant#47,361Verstappen#47,403virtuosity#47,407Rubinstein#47,312

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

speedometer16 variantssociopathic16 variantsrestocking16 variantsrationalism16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list