wide-ranging

adj

"wide-ranging" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wide-ranging” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Occurring over a wide range; appearing throughout a broad region, or extending over a diverse spectrum of possibilities.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wide-ranging · wide-ranging · English

wide-ranging · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for wide-ranging
PropertyValue
Headwordwide-ranging
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “wide-ranging” sits in English frequency

wide-rangingranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

wide-ranging is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Occurring over a wide range; appearing throughout a broad region, or extending over a diverse spectrum of possibilities.".

Zero misspellings are on record for wide-ranging in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is wide-ranging, spelled W-I-D-E---R-A-N-G-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Occurring over a wide range; appearing throughout a broad region, or extending over a diverse spectrum of possibilities.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. wide-ranging sanctions
  2. At least half of this traffic is coal from the Yorkshire pits, an increasing amount of which is running in block trains that bypass the yard on the main line; the remainder is wide-ranging in its diversity, from wool to wine and textiles to timber.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wide-ranging"?
"wide-ranging" is spelled W-I-D-E---R-A-N-G-I-N-G.
What does "wide-ranging" mean?
As an adjective, "wide-ranging" means: Occurring over a wide range; appearing throughout a broad region, or extending over a diverse spectrum of possibilities.
What language does "wide-ranging" come from?
"wide-ranging" 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.

What to do next

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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list