wasting

/ˈweɪstɪŋ/

//ˈweɪstɪŋ// verb

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

"wasting" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wasting” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,018. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,018
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of waste

Corpus desk

Index EN-wasting · wasting · English

wasting · rank #6,018 · 11 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,018
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Warner

Nearest frequency peer: Warner (-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 “wasting”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “wasting” 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).

wasting vs waving
71% similar
wasting vs waxing
71% similar
wasting vs writing
71% similar

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

Key facts for wasting
PropertyValue
Headwordwasting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈweɪstɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,018
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wasting”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).wastinglands 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 “Warner” (#6,017), “witch” (#6,019), “voter” (#6,016). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wasting” is #6,018. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around wasting (IPA /ˈweɪstɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,018 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of waste".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for wasting, with forms such as "awsting", "wasitng", and "wassting". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "waving", "waxing", "writing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is wasting, spelled W-A-S-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of waste

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awsting
  • wasitng
  • wassting
  • wastign
  • wastingg
  • wastinng
  • wastnig
  • wastting
  • watsing
  • wsating
  • wwasting

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

awsting2wasitng2wassting1wastign2wastingg1wastinng1wastnig2wastting1
Edit distance from "wasting"

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 "wasting"?
"wasting" is spelled W-A-S-T-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈweɪstɪŋ/.
What does "wasting" mean?
As a verb, "wasting" means: present participle and gerund of waste
What words are commonly confused with "wasting"?
"wasting" is commonly confused with "waving", "waxing", "writing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wasting"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wasting" is /ˈweɪstɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "wasting" come from?
"wasting" 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 "wasting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

selfish#6,009bridges#6,029centres#6,033cycling#6,040

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

overview11 variantsexamined11 variantshardest11 variantslasting11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list