# decaying vs decoding

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### decaying
*verb · frequency rank #24,137*
present participle and gerund of decay

### decoding
*noun · IPA /dɪˈkəʊdɪŋ(ɡ)/ · frequency rank #27,114*
An instance of the translation of something (usually a message or other text) into a form more suitable for subsequent processing.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decaying-vs-decoding