Which to use
“mocking” is a verb and “mockingly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,962
- “mocking” frequency rank
- #48,361
- “mockingly” frequency rank
- 62323
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mocking | mockingly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of mock | Said, written, or done with the intent to mock, or ridicule; with mocking effect. |
Letter map: mocking vs mockingly
Shared letters muted; letters that set mocking and mockingly apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - mocking and mockingly
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mocking is averb and mockinglyanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mocking” sits inside “mockingly”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mocking is recorded at frequency rank #13,962, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmɑkɪŋ/. mockingly is at rank #48,361, tagged as anadv.
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 62323, this pair ranks #89,148 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mocking vs mockingly
Shared letters: cgikmno. Private to "mocking": -. Private to "mockingly": ly.
"mocking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "mockingly" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mocking" and "mockingly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mocking" or "mockingly"?
After this comparison
You've compared "mocking" and "mockingly". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "mocking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mockingly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,148 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mocking" and "mockingly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mocking vs mopping". 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 #89,148 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.