# gnawing vs growing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### gnawing
*adjective · IPA /ˈnɔː.ɪŋ/ · frequency rank #39,338*
severe or intense

### growing
*verb · IPA /ˈɡɹoʊɪŋ/ · frequency rank #1,223*
present participle and gerund of grow

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