topping
/ˈtɑpɪŋ/
"topping" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“topping” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,830 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #13,830
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of top
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 | topping |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈtɑpɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,830 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “topping” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for topping is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɑpɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,830 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of top".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for topping, with forms such as "otpping", "toping", and "topipng". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "typing", "toying", "touring", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English toppyng; equivalent to top + -ing. The correct English form is topping, spelled T-O-P-P-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of top
Etymology
From Middle English toppyng; equivalent to top + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: otpping,toping,topipng,toppign,toppingg,toppinng,toppnig,tpoping,ttopping
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of topping - 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
How do you spell "topping"?
What does "topping" mean?
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Using “topping”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O-P-P-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɑpɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “typing” - see the side-by-side comparison. topping vs typing
- 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.