Which to use
“padding” and “paving” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,054
- “padding” frequency rank
- #16,767
- “paving” frequency rank
- 39821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | padding | paving |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of pad | present participle and gerund of pave |
Where the eye mixes padding and paving
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between padding and paving
A purely visual mix-up. padding (/ˈpædɪŋ/) and paving (/ˈpeɪvɪŋ/) 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 39821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
padding is recorded at frequency rank #23,054, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpædɪŋ/. paving is at rank #16,767, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpeɪvɪŋ/.
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 39821, this pair ranks #273,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of padding vs paving
Shared letters: aginp. Private to "padding": d. Private to "paving": v.
"padding" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "paving" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "padding" for "paving" ever safe?
Frequency check: "padding" vs "paving" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "padding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paving" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "padding" and "paving" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "padding vs plodding". 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 #273,201 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.