Which to use
“locking” and “lurking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,231
- “locking” frequency rank
- #14,357
- “lurking” frequency rank
- 24588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locking | lurking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked. | The act of one who lurks. |
Letter map: locking vs lurking
Shared letters muted; letters that set locking and lurking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Pair insight - locking / lurking
locking and lurking are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locking is recorded at frequency rank #10,231, classified as anoun. lurking is at rank #14,357, 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 24588, this pair ranks #400,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of locking vs lurking
Shared letters: gikln. Private to "locking": co. Private to "lurking": ru.
"locking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "lurking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "locking" for "lurking" ever safe?
Frequency check: "locking" vs "lurking" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "locking" and "lurking".
- Full dictionary entry for "locking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lurking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locking" and "lurking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loring vs lurking". 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 #400,856 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.