chimingvscummingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“chiming” and “cumming” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,172
“chiming” frequency rank
#22,051
“cumming” frequency rank
62223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chiming cumming
Definition present participle and gerund of chime present participle and gerund of cum

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chiming and cumming apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chiming
7 ch
cumming

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chiming (/ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/) and cumming (/ˈkʌmɪŋ/) 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 62223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chiming is recorded at frequency rank #40,172, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/. cumming is at rank #22,051, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkʌmɪŋ/.

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 62223, this pair ranks #89,685 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chiming vs cumming

Shared letters: cgimn. Private to "chiming": h. Private to "cumming": u.

"chiming" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "cumming" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chimingcchiming · chhiming · chiimng · chimign · chimingg · chiminng · chimming · chimnig
  • cummingccumming · cmuming · cumimng · cuming · cummign · cummingg · cumminng · cummnig

Frequency comparison

chiming#40,172
cumming#22,051

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chiming" and "cumming" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/ versus /ˈkʌmɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chiming" or "cumming"?
"cumming" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,051 in our English list, against #40,172 for "chiming". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chiming vs cumming

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chiming” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list