youngling

/ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/

//ˈjʌŋlɪŋ// adj

"youngling" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“youngling” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Young; youthful.

Key facts for youngling
PropertyValue
Headwordyoungling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “youngling” sits in English frequency

youngling falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for youngling is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Young; youthful.".

youngling doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English youngling, ȝongelyng, ȝungling, from Old English ġeongling (“a youth, youngling”), from Proto-West Germanic *jungiling, from Proto-Germanic *jungalingaz, *jungilingaz (“young man, youngling”). Doublet of Yngling. By surface analysis, you… The correct English form is youngling, spelled Y-O-U-N-G-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Young; youthful.

Etymology

From Middle English youngling, ȝongelyng, ȝungling, from Old English ġeongling (“a youth, youngling”), from Proto-West Germanic *jungiling, from Proto-Germanic *jungalingaz, *jungilingaz (“young man, youngling”). Doublet of Yngling. By surface analysis, young + -ling.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "youngling"?
"youngling" is spelled Y-O-U-N-G-L-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/.
What does "youngling" mean?
As an adjective, "youngling" means: Young; youthful.
How do you pronounce "youngling"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "youngling" is /ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "youngling"?
From Middle English youngling, ȝongelyng, ȝungling, from Old English ġeongling (“a youth, youngling”), from Proto-West Germanic *jungiling, from Proto-Germanic *jungalingaz, *jungilingaz (“young man, youngling”). Doublet of Yngling. By surface ana... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “youngling”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is Y-O-U-N-G-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈjʌŋlɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list