Which to use
“persistent” is an adjective and “persisting” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,329
- “persistent” frequency rank
- #41,807
- “persisting” frequency rank
- 50136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | persistent | persisting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obstinately refusing to give up or let go. | persistence |
Letter map: persistent vs persisting
Shared letters muted; letters that set persistent and persisting apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.
Role in the sentence - persistent and persisting
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: persistent is anadjective and persistinganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
persistent is recorded at frequency rank #8,329, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɚˈsɪstənt/. persisting is at rank #41,807, tagged as anoun.
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 50136, this pair ranks #177,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of persistent vs persisting
Shared letters: einprst. Private to "persistent": -. Private to "persisting": g.
"persistent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "persisting" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- persistent ← eprsistent · perisstent · perrsistent · persisetnt · persisstent · persistennt · persistentt · persistetn
- persisting ← eprsisting · perissting · perrsisting · persisitng · persissting · persistign · persistingg · persistinng
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "persistent" for "persisting" ever safe?
Frequency check: "persistent" vs "persisting" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "persistent" vs "persisting" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "persistent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persisting" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "persistent" and "persisting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permitting vs persisting". 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 #177,012 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.