Which to use
“damning” and “downing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,340
- “damning” frequency rank
- #16,219
- “downing” frequency rank
- 38559
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | damning | downing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of damn | present participle and gerund of down |
Where the eye mixes damning and downing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: damning vs downing
A purely visual mix-up. damning (/ˈdæmɪŋ/) and downing (/ˈdaʊnɪŋ/) 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 38559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
damning is recorded at frequency rank #22,340, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdæmɪŋ/. downing is at rank #16,219, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈdaʊnɪŋ/.
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 38559, this pair ranks #284,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of damning vs downing
Shared letters: dgin. Private to "damning": am. Private to "downing": ow.
"damning" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "downing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "damning" and "downing" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "damning" vs "downing" - 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 "damning" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "downing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "damning" and "downing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dabbing vs damning". 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 #284,833 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.