Which to use
“lasting” is an adjective and “losing” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,979
- “lasting” frequency rank
- #1,487
- “losing” frequency rank
- 7466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lasting | losing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persisting for an extended period of time. | present participle and gerund of lose |
Where the eye mixes lasting and losing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lasting vs losing
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lasting is /ˈlɑːstɪŋ/ while losing is /ˈluːzɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lasting is recorded at frequency rank #5,979, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɑːstɪŋ/. losing is at rank #1,487, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈluːzɪŋ/.
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 7466, this pair ranks #506,980 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lasting vs losing
Shared letters: gilns. Private to "lasting": at. Private to "losing": o.
"lasting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "losing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lasting" for "losing" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lasting" or "losing" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lasting" and "losing" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lasting" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "losing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #506,980 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lasting" and "losing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lacing vs lasting". 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 #506,980 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.