Which to use
“delving” and “denying” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,881
- “delving” frequency rank
- #7,673
- “denying” frequency rank
- 45554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delving | denying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of delve | present participle and gerund of deny |
Where the eye mixes delving and denying
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delving (CVCCVCC) and denying (CVCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between delving and denying
A purely visual mix-up. delving (/ˈdɛlvɪŋ/) and denying (/dɪˈnaɪ.ɪŋ/) 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 45554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delving is recorded at frequency rank #37,881, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdɛlvɪŋ/. denying is at rank #7,673, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈnaɪ.ɪŋ/.
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 45554, this pair ranks #220,183 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delving vs denying
Shared letters: degin. Private to "delving": lv. Private to "denying": y.
"delving" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "denying" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delving" and "denying" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "delving" vs "denying" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delving" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "denying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,183 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delving" and "denying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deeming vs delving". 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 #220,183 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.