Which to use
“coursing” is a noun and “cursing” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,073
- “coursing” frequency rank
- #19,304
- “cursing” frequency rank
- 61377
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coursing | cursing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The sport of chasing wild animals, especially hares, with dogs by sight rather than by scent. | present participle and gerund of curse |
Letter map: coursing vs cursing
Shared letters muted; letters that set coursing and cursing apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. coursing runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against cursing's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: coursing vs cursing
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: coursing is anoun and cursingaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coursing is recorded at frequency rank #42,073, classified as anoun. cursing is at rank #19,304, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɝsɪŋ/.
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 61377, this pair ranks #94,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of coursing vs cursing
Shared letters: cginrsu. Private to "coursing": o. Private to "cursing": -.
"coursing" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "cursing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coursing" for "cursing" ever safe?
Which is more common, "coursing" or "cursing"?
After this comparison
Pair "coursing" vs "cursing" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "coursing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cursing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coursing" and "cursing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coursing 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 #94,684 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.