thinking
/ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/
"thinking" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thinking” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #579 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #579
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The action or process of using one's mind to consider or reason about something.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thinking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #579 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thinking” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thinking is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #579 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for thinking, with forms such as "htinking", "thhinking", and "thikning". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "ticking", "thinning", "tricking", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thinking, thynkynge, thenkyng, equivalent to think + -ing. The correct English form is thinking, spelled T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The action or process of using one's mind to consider or reason about something.
- 2A thought.
Etymology
From Middle English thinking, thynkynge, thenkyng, equivalent to think + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htinking,thhinking,thikning,thinikng,thinkign,thinkingg,thinkinng,thinkking,thinknig,thinnking,thniking,tihnking,tthinking
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thinking - 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.
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
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Using “thinking”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ticking” - see the side-by-side comparison. thinking vs ticking
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.