Which to use
“missile” is a noun and “missing” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,712
- “missile” frequency rank
- #950
- “missing” frequency rank
- 6662
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | missile | missing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as stone, arrow or bullet. | present participle and gerund of miss |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set missile and missing apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
missile and missing form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6662, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
missile is recorded at frequency rank #5,712, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪs.aɪl/. missing is at rank #950, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmɪsɪŋ/.
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 6662, this pair ranks #510,522 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "missile" and "missing" be used interchangeably?
Remembering missile vs missing
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “missile”; for a verb, it's “missing”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “missile” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable