withering
"withering" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“withering” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,398 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #36,398
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.
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 | withering |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #36,398 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “withering” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for withering is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #36,398 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for withering, with forms such as "iwthering", "wihtering", and "witehring". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "watering", "wintering", "weathering", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From wither + -ing. The correct English form is withering, spelled W-I-T-H-E-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.
- 2Diminishing rapidly.
- 3Tending to make someone feel small; scornful in a mortifying way.
Etymology
From wither + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwthering,wihtering,witehring,witheirng,witherign,witheringg,witherinng,withernig,witherring,withhering,withreing,witthering,wtihering,wwithering
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of withering - 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.
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 “withering”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-T-H-E-R-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “watering” - see the side-by-side comparison. withering vs watering
- 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.