hingvshomingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,801
“hing” frequency rank
#29,685
“homing” frequency rank
78486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hing homing
Definition alternative form of hang. present participle and gerund of home

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hing and homing apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hing
6 ch
homing

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hing (/hɪŋ/) and homing (/ˈhoʊmɪŋ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hing is recorded at frequency rank #48,801, classified as averb, pronounced /hɪŋ/. homing is at rank #29,685, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhoʊmɪŋ/.

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 78486, this pair ranks #24,534 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hing vs homing

Shared letters: ghin. Private to "hing": -. Private to "homing": mo.

"hing" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "homing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinghhing · hign · hingg · hinng · hnig · ihng
  • hominghhoming · hmoing · hoimng · homign · homingg · hominng · homming · homnig

Frequency comparison

hing#48,801
homing#29,685

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hing" and "homing" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/hɪŋ/ versus /ˈhoʊmɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hing" or "homing"?
"homing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,685 in our English list, against #48,801 for "hing". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hing vs homing

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 “hing” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list