Which to use
“pining” is a verb and “pitting” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,480
- “pining” frequency rank
- #29,038
- “pitting” frequency rank
- 68518
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pining | pitting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of pine | The formation of pits on a surface because of corrosion. |
Letter map: pining vs pitting
Shared letters muted; letters that set pining and pitting apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Grammar separator: pining vs pitting
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pining is averb and pittinganoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pining is recorded at frequency rank #39,480, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpaɪnɪŋ/. pitting is at rank #29,038, 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 68518, this pair ranks #58,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pining vs pitting
Shared letters: ginp. Private to "pining": -. Private to "pitting": t.
"pining" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "pitting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pining" for "pitting" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pining" vs "pitting" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "pining" and "pitting". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "pining" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pitting" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pining" and "pitting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pining vs pinion". 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 #58,533 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.