Which to use
“blinking” is an adjective and “blocking” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,535
- “blinking” frequency rank
- #5,860
- “blocking” frequency rank
- 25395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blinking | blocking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That blinks. | present participle and gerund of block |
Letter map: blinking vs blocking
Shared letters muted; letters that set blinking and blocking apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: blinking vs blocking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: blinking is anadjective and blockingaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blinking is recorded at frequency rank #19,535, classified as anadj. blocking is at rank #5,860, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈblɒkɪŋ/.
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 25395, this pair ranks #394,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of blinking vs blocking
Shared letters: bgikln. Private to "blinking": -. Private to "blocking": co.
"blinking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "blocking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "blinking" and "blocking" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "blinking" or "blocking" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "blinking" and "blocking". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "blinking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blocking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blinking" and "blocking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blacking vs blinking". 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 #394,586 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.