looking

\ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\

/\ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\/ verb

The verdict

“looking” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #31,585 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#31,585
frequency rank, French
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Participe présent du verbe to look.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

looking vs loving
71% similar
looking vs Loing
57% similar

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

Key facts for looking
PropertyValue
Headwordlooking
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#31,585
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “looking” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). looking lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for looking is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\. Corpus data places it at rank #31,585 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Participe présent du verbe to look.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for looking, with forms such as "llooking", "loking", and "lokoing". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "loving", "Loing", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file 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 French form is looking, spelled L-O-O-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Participe présent du verbe to look.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: llooking,loking,lokoing,looikng,lookign,lookingg,lookinng,lookking,looknig,oloking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of looking - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

llooking1loking1lokoing2looikng2lookign2lookingg1lookinng1lookking1
Edit distance from "looking"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "looking"?
"looking" is spelled L-O-O-K-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\.
What does "looking" mean?
As a verb, "looking" means: Participe présent du verbe to look.
What words are commonly confused with "looking"?
"looking" is commonly confused with "loving", "Loing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "looking"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "looking" is \ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "looking" come from?
"looking" is a French 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.

Using “looking”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is L-O-O-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈlʊk.ɪŋ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “loving” - see the side-by-side comparison. looking vs loving
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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