Which to use
“accepting” and “accessing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,285
- “accepting” frequency rank
- #15,317
- “accessing” frequency rank
- 20602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | accepting | accessing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of accept | present participle and gerund of access |
Where the eye mixes accepting and accessing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses accepting with accessing
A purely visual mix-up. accepting (/ˌækˈsɛp.tɪŋ/) and accessing (/ˈæksɛsɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
accepting is recorded at frequency rank #5,285, classified as averb, pronounced /ˌækˈsɛp.tɪŋ/. accessing is at rank #15,317, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈæksɛsɪŋ/.
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 20602, this pair ranks #429,963 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of accepting vs accessing
Shared letters: acegin. Private to "accepting": pt. Private to "accessing": s.
"accepting" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "accessing" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "accepting" for "accessing" ever safe?
Frequency check: "accepting" vs "accessing" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "accepting" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "accessing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,963 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "accepting" and "accessing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "accessing vs accession". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #429,963 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.