Which to use
“paying” and “poking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,834
- “paying” frequency rank
- #16,997
- “poking” frequency rank
- 18831
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paying | poking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of pay | present participle and gerund of poke |
Where the eye mixes paying and poking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses paying with poking
A purely visual mix-up. paying (/ˈpeɪ.ɪŋ/) and poking (/ˈpəʊkɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paying is recorded at frequency rank #1,834, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpeɪ.ɪŋ/. poking is at rank #16,997, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpəʊkɪŋ/.
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 18831, this pair ranks #442,276 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of paying vs poking
Shared letters: ginp. Private to "paying": ay. Private to "poking": ko.
"paying" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC · "poking" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "paying" and "poking" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "paying" or "poking"?
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 "paying" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #442,276 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paying" and "poking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poking vs porting". 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 #442,276 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.