Which to use
“ceasing” and “chasing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,977
- “ceasing” frequency rank
- #5,864
- “chasing” frequency rank
- 39841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceasing | chasing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of cease | present participle and gerund of chase |
Where the eye mixes ceasing and chasing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ceasing vs chasing
A purely visual mix-up. ceasing (/ˈsiːsɪŋ/) and chasing (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪŋ/) 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 a single letter - e in “ceasing” becomes h in “chasing”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceasing is recorded at frequency rank #33,977, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsiːsɪŋ/. chasing is at rank #5,864, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪŋ/.
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 39841, this pair ranks #273,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ceasing vs chasing
Shared letters: acgins. Private to "ceasing": e. Private to "chasing": h.
"ceasing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "chasing" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ceasing" and "chasing" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ceasing" or "chasing"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ceasing" and "chasing" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceasing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chasing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceasing" and "chasing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceasing vs ceding". 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 #273,018 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.