Which to use
“losing” and “lying” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,487
- “losing” frequency rank
- #2,164
- “lying” frequency rank
- 3651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | losing | lying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of lose | present participle and gerund of lie (“to rest in a horizontal position”) |
Where the eye mixes losing and lying
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: losing vs lying
A purely visual mix-up. losing (/ˈluːzɪŋ/) and lying (/ˈlaɪ.ɪŋ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
losing is recorded at frequency rank #1,487, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈluːzɪŋ/. lying is at rank #2,164, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlaɪ.ɪŋ/.
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 3651, this pair ranks #521,440 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of losing vs lying
Shared letters: giln. Private to "losing": os. Private to "lying": y.
"losing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "lying" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "losing" and "lying" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "losing" vs "lying" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "losing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,440 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "losing" and "lying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loring vs lying". 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 #521,440 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.