Which to use
“appalling” and “applying” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,750
- “appalling” frequency rank
- #4,736
- “applying” frequency rank
- 20486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | appalling | applying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of appall | present participle and gerund of apply |
Where the eye mixes appalling and applying
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: appalling vs applying
A purely visual mix-up. appalling (/əˈpɔːlɪŋ/) and applying (/əˈplaɪ.ɪŋ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
appalling is recorded at frequency rank #15,750, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈpɔːlɪŋ/. applying is at rank #4,736, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈplaɪ.ɪŋ/.
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 20486, this pair ranks #430,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of appalling vs applying
Shared letters: agilnp. Private to "appalling": -. Private to "applying": y.
"appalling" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "applying" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "appalling" and "applying" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "appalling" or "applying" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "appalling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "applying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "appalling" and "applying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "appalling vs appealing". 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 #430,749 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.