# fooling vs fouling

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### fooling
*verb · IPA /ˈfuːlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #19,339*
present participle and gerund of fool

### fouling
*verb · IPA /ˈfaʊlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #32,811*
present participle and gerund of foul

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