Which to use
“outing” is a noun and “outlying” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,016
- “outing” frequency rank
- #26,540
- “outlying” frequency rank
- 41556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | outing | outlying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pleasure trip or excursion. | Relatively remote from some central location. |
Letter map: outing vs outlying
Shared letters muted; letters that set outing and outlying apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: outing vs outlying
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: outing is anoun and outlyinganadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
outing is recorded at frequency rank #15,016, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊtɪŋ/. outlying is at rank #26,540, tagged as anadj.
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 41556, this pair ranks #257,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of outing vs outlying
Shared letters: ginotu. Private to "outing": -. Private to "outlying": ly.
"outing" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC · "outlying" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "outing" and "outlying" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "outing" vs "outlying" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "outing" and "outlying". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "outing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outlying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "outing" and "outlying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ousting vs outing". 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 #257,256 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.