Which to use
“causing” and “crushing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,823
- “causing” frequency rank
- #9,157
- “crushing” frequency rank
- 11980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causing | crushing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of cause | present participle and gerund of crush |
Where the eye mixes causing and crushing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses causing with crushing
A purely visual mix-up. causing (/ˈkɔːzɪŋ/) and crushing (/ˈkɹʌ.ʃɪŋ/) 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 11980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
causing is recorded at frequency rank #2,823, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɔːzɪŋ/. crushing is at rank #9,157, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɹʌ.ʃɪŋ/.
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 11980, this pair ranks #484,085 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of causing vs crushing
Shared letters: cginsu. Private to "causing": a. Private to "crushing": hr.
"causing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "crushing" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "causing" for "crushing" ever safe?
Frequency check: "causing" vs "crushing" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "causing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crushing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #484,085 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causing" and "crushing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crushing vs cussing". 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 #484,085 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.