Which to use
“failing” is a verb and “faring” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,301
- “failing” frequency rank
- #43,152
- “faring” frequency rank
- 47453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failing | faring |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of fail | An adventure, trek, journey. |
Letter map: failing vs faring
Shared letters muted; letters that set failing and faring apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. failing runs 7 letters (CVVCVCC) against faring's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: failing vs faring
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: failing is averb and faringanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47453, 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/. faring is at rank #43,152, 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 47453, this pair ranks #202,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of failing vs faring
Shared letters: afgin. Private to "failing": l. Private to "faring": r.
"failing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "faring" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "failing" and "faring" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "failing" vs "faring" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "failing" and "faring".
- Full dictionary entry for "failing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faring" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failing" and "faring" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faring vs forking". 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 #202,321 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.