trying
/ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
trying is spelled T-R-Y-I-N-G. The wrong spelling people search most is trieing: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 154 of all searches for the word. Trying is an adjective meaning “Difficult to endure; arduous”.
How many letters and syllables are in trying?
| Letters | 6: T-R-Y-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 295 times per million words; the 322nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, trieing, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell trying?
Trying is spelled T-R-Y-I-N-G. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 153 of the searches for trying in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is trying?
Trying appears 295 times per million words in written English, the 322nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce trying?
- /ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/
- British /ˈtɹɑjɪŋ/
Trying has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-trying.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of trying
- more trying comparative
- most trying superlative
- tryings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does trying mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Difficult to endure; arduous.
- 2
Irritating, stressful or bothersome.
noun
- 1
The act by which one tries something; an attempt.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of try
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Trying in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does trying come from?
From try + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).