Which to use
“failing” and “falling” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,301
- “failing” frequency rank
- #2,203
- “falling” frequency rank
- 6504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failing | falling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of fail | present participle and gerund of fall |
Where the eye mixes failing and falling
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses failing with falling
A purely visual mix-up. failing (/ˈfeɪ.lɪŋ/) and falling (/ˈfɔːlɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - i in “failing” becomes l in “falling”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
failing is recorded at frequency rank #4,301, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfeɪ.lɪŋ/. falling is at rank #2,203, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɔːlɪŋ/.
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 6504, this pair ranks #511,150 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of failing vs falling
Shared letters: afgiln. Private to "failing": -. Private to "falling": -.
"failing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "falling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "failing" and "falling" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "failing" or "falling"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "failing" and "falling" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "failing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "falling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #511,150 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failing" and "falling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falling vs Fuelling". 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 #511,150 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.