Which to use
“decaying” is a verb and “delaying” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,137
- “decaying” frequency rank
- #17,342
- “delaying” frequency rank
- 41479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decaying | delaying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of decay | A delay. |
Letter map: decaying vs delaying
Shared letters muted; letters that set decaying and delaying apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. decaying and delaying follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: decaying vs delaying
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decaying is averb and delayinganoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - c in “decaying” becomes l in “delaying”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decaying is recorded at frequency rank #24,137, classified as averb. delaying is at rank #17,342, tagged as anoun.
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 41479, this pair ranks #258,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of decaying vs delaying
Shared letters: adeginy. Private to "decaying": c. Private to "delaying": l.
"decaying" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC · "delaying" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "decaying" for "delaying" ever safe?
Which is more common, "decaying" or "delaying"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "decaying" and "delaying".
- Full dictionary entry for "decaying" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "delaying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decaying" and "delaying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaying vs decking". 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 #258,012 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.