PiercingvsPiercingsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Piercing” and “Piercings” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,229
“Piercing” frequency rank
#44,130
“Piercings” frequency rank
77359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Piercing Piercings
Definition das Durchstechen von Körperstellen, um Schmuckstücke anzubringen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Piercing

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Piercing and Piercings apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Piercing
9 ch
Piercings

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Piercing ([ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋ]) and Piercings ([ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Piercing” sits inside “Piercings”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Piercing is recorded at frequency rank #33,229, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋ]. Piercings is at rank #44,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋs].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 77359, this pair ranks #262,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Piercing vs Piercings

Shared letters: ceginpr. Private to "Piercing": -. Private to "Piercings": s.

"Piercing" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC  ·  "Piercings" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Piercingipercing · peircing · piecring · pierccing · piercign · piercingg · piercinng · piercnig
  • Piercingsipercings · peircings · piecrings · pierccings · piercigns · piercinggs · piercingss · piercinngs

Frequency comparison

Piercing#33,229
Piercings#44,130

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Piercing" and "Piercings" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋ] versus [ˈpiːɐ̯sɪŋs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Piercing" or "Piercings"?
"Piercing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,229 in our German list, against #44,130 for "Piercings". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Piercing vs Piercings

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Piercing” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

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