longingvsloringWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: longing is a verb, loring is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“longing” is a verb and “loring” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,989
“longing” frequency rank
#49,468
“loring” frequency rank
64457
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature longing loring
Definition present participle and gerund of long Instructive discourse; instruction; teaching.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set longing and loring apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
longing
6 ch
loring

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: longing is averb and loringanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

longing is recorded at frequency rank #14,989, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlɒŋɪŋ/. loring is at rank #49,468, 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 64457, this pair ranks #77,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of longing vs loring

Shared letters: gilno. Private to "longing": -. Private to "loring": r.

"longing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "loring" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • longingllonging · lnoging · logning · longging · longign · longingg · longinng · longnig
  • loringlloring · loirng · lorign · loringg · lorinng · lornig · lorring · lroing

Frequency comparison

longing#14,989
loring#49,468

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "longing" and "loring" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "longing" is a verb and "loring" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "longing" or "loring"?
"longing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,989 in our English list, against #49,468 for "loring". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering longing vs loring

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “longing”; for a noun, it's “loring”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “longing” 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