Which to use
“breaking” and “breeding” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,854
- “breaking” frequency rank
- #6,214
- “breeding” frequency rank
- 8068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | breaking | breeding |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act by which something is broken. | Propagation of offspring through sexual reproduction. |
Where the eye mixes breaking and breeding
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: breaking vs breeding
A purely visual mix-up. breaking (/ˈbɹeɪkɪŋ/) and breeding (/ˈbɹiːdɪŋ/) 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 8068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
breaking is recorded at frequency rank #1,854, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹeɪkɪŋ/. breeding is at rank #6,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹiːdɪŋ/.
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 8068, this pair ranks #504,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of breaking vs breeding
Shared letters: beginr. Private to "breaking": ak. Private to "breeding": d.
"breaking" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC · "breeding" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "breaking" for "breeding" ever safe?
Which is more common, "breaking" or "breeding"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "breaking" and "breeding" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "breaking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "breeding" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #504,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "breaking" and "breeding" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beeping vs breeding". 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 #504,259 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.