Which to use
“divide” and “diving” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,876
- “divide” frequency rank
- #6,895
- “diving” frequency rank
- 12771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | divide | diving |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. | present participle and gerund of dive |
Where the eye mixes divide and diving
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between divide and diving
A purely visual mix-up. divide (/dɪˈvaɪd/) and diving (/ˈdaɪ.vɪŋ/) 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 12771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
divide is recorded at frequency rank #5,876, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪd/. diving is at rank #6,895, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈdaɪ.vɪŋ/.
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 12771, this pair ranks #479,661 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of divide vs diving
Shared letters: div. Private to "divide": e. Private to "diving": gn.
"divide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "diving" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "divide" for "diving" ever safe?
Frequency check: "divide" vs "diving" - 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 "divide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "diving" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #479,661 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "divide" and "diving" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diving vs dozing". 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 #479,661 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.