Which to use
“addicting” is an adjective and “admitting” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,028
- “addicting” frequency rank
- #9,558
- “admitting” frequency rank
- 45586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | addicting | admitting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Causing addiction. | present participle and gerund of admit |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set addicting and admitting apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
addicting and admitting form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
addicting is recorded at frequency rank #36,028, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈdɪktɪŋ/. admitting is at rank #9,558, tagged as averb, pronounced /ədˈmɪtɪŋ/.
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 45586, this pair ranks #219,860 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "addicting" and "admitting" be used interchangeably?
Remembering addicting vs admitting
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “addicting”; for a verb, it's “admitting”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “addicting” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable