exclaimingvsexplainingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“exclaiming” and “explaining” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,125
“exclaiming” frequency rank
#4,856
“explaining” frequency rank
46981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exclaiming explaining
Definition exclamation explanation

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exclaiming and explaining apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
exclaiming
10 ch
explaining

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

exclaiming and explaining are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exclaiming is recorded at frequency rank #42,125, classified as anoun. explaining is at rank #4,856, 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 46981, this pair ranks #206,694 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exclaiming vs explaining

Shared letters: aegilnx. Private to "exclaiming": cm. Private to "explaining": p.

"exclaiming" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVVCVCC  ·  "explaining" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exclaimingecxlaiming · excaliming · excclaiming · exclaiimng · exclaimign · exclaimingg · exclaiminng · exclaimming
  • explainingepxlaining · exlpaining · expalining · explaiinng · explainign · explainingg · explaininng · explainnig

Frequency comparison

exclaiming#42,125
explaining#4,856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exclaiming" and "explaining" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "exclaiming" or "explaining"?
"explaining" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,856 in our English list, against #42,125 for "exclaiming". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering exclaiming vs explaining

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exclaiming” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list