# fastening vs festering

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### fastening
*verb · IPA /ˈfɑːsənɪŋ/ · frequency rank #37,456*
present participle and gerund of fasten

### festering
*noun · frequency rank #42,131*
The condition of something that festers.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fastening-vs-festering