fleeingvsflowingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,243
“fleeing” frequency rank
#6,907
“flowing” frequency rank
19150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fleeing flowing
Definition present participle and gerund of flee present participle and gerund of flow

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fleeing and flowing apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
fleeing
7 ch
flowing

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fleeing (/ˈfliːɪŋ/) and flowing (/ˈfloʊ.ɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fleeing is recorded at frequency rank #12,243, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfliːɪŋ/. flowing is at rank #6,907, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfloʊ.ɪŋ/.

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 19150, this pair ranks #440,156 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fleeing vs flowing

Shared letters: fgiln. Private to "fleeing": e. Private to "flowing": ow.

"fleeing" · 7 letters · shape CCVVVCC  ·  "flowing" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fleeingffleeing · fleeign · fleeingg · fleeinng · fleenig · fleieng · fleing · flleeing
  • flowingfflowing · fllowing · floiwng · flowign · flowingg · flowinng · flownig · flowwing

Frequency comparison

fleeing#12,243
flowing#6,907

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fleeing" and "flowing" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfliːɪŋ/ versus /ˈfloʊ.ɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fleeing" or "flowing"?
"flowing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,907 in our English list, against #12,243 for "fleeing". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fleeing vs flowing

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 “fleeing” 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