Which to use
“downing” is a verb and “downwind” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,219
- “downing” frequency rank
- #43,611
- “downwind” frequency rank
- 59830
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | downing | downwind |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of down | in the same direction as the wind is blowing |
Where the eye mixes downing and downwind
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: downing vs downwind
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: downing is /ˈdaʊnɪŋ/ while downwind is /ˌdaʊnˈwɪnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
downing is recorded at frequency rank #16,219, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdaʊnɪŋ/. downwind is at rank #43,611, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˌdaʊnˈwɪnd/.
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 59830, this pair ranks #103,858 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of downing vs downwind
Shared letters: dinow. Private to "downing": g. Private to "downwind": -.
"downing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "downwind" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "downing" and "downwind" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "downing" vs "downwind" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "downing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "downwind" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,858 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "downing" and "downwind" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Downie vs downing". 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 #103,858 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.