Which to use
“downing” is a verb and “dunning” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,219
- “downing” frequency rank
- #34,865
- “dunning” frequency rank
- 51084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | downing | dunning |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of down | Attempt to collect a debt. |
Letter map: downing vs dunning
Shared letters muted; letters that set downing and dunning apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Grammar separator: downing vs dunning
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: downing is averb and dunninganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51084, 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/. dunning is at rank #34,865, 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 51084, this pair ranks #168,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of downing vs dunning
Shared letters: dgin. Private to "downing": ow. Private to "dunning": u.
"downing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "dunning" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "downing" and "dunning" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "downing" or "dunning" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "downing" vs "dunning" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "downing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dunning" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #168,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "downing" and "dunning" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Denning vs dunning". 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 #168,540 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.