Which to use
“hiding” and “hiring” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,161
- “hiding” frequency rank
- #4,861
- “hiring” frequency rank
- 9022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hiding | hiring |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of hide | present participle and gerund of hire |
Where the eye mixes hiding and hiring
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hiding with hiring
A purely visual mix-up. hiding (/ˈhaɪdɪŋ/) and hiring (/haɪə.ɹɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “hiding” becomes r in “hiring”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hiding is recorded at frequency rank #4,161, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhaɪdɪŋ/. hiring is at rank #4,861, tagged as averb, pronounced /haɪə.ɹɪŋ/.
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 9022, this pair ranks #499,476 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hiding vs hiring
Shared letters: ghin. Private to "hiding": d. Private to "hiring": r.
"hiding" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "hiring" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hiding" for "hiring" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hiding" or "hiring"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hiding" and "hiring" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hiding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hiring" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #499,476 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hiding" and "hiring" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hing vs hiring". 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 #499,476 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.