Which to use
“hurrying” is a verb and “hurtling” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,286
- “hurrying” frequency rank
- #49,409
- “hurtling” frequency rank
- 89695
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hurrying | hurtling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of hurry | The act of something being hurtled or thrown. |
Letter map: hurrying vs hurtling
Shared letters muted; letters that set hurrying and hurtling apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: hurrying vs hurtling
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hurrying is averb and hurtlinganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hurrying is recorded at frequency rank #40,286, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhʌɹ.i.ɪŋ/. hurtling is at rank #49,409, tagged as anoun.
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 89695, this pair ranks #4,904 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hurrying vs hurtling
Shared letters: ghinru. Private to "hurrying": y. Private to "hurtling": lt.
"hurrying" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "hurtling" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hurrying" for "hurtling" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hurrying" or "hurtling"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hurrying" and "hurtling".
- Full dictionary entry for "hurrying" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hurtling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,904 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hurrying" and "hurtling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hurtling vs hustling". 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 #4,904 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.