Which to use
“plaguing” is a noun and “plugging” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,313
- “plaguing” frequency rank
- #25,173
- “plugging” frequency rank
- 68486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plaguing | plugging |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | annoyance; harassment | present participle and gerund of plug |
Letter map: plaguing vs plugging
Shared letters muted; letters that set plaguing and plugging apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: plaguing vs plugging
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: plaguing is anoun and pluggingaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plaguing is recorded at frequency rank #43,313, classified as anoun. plugging is at rank #25,173, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈplʌɡɪŋ/.
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 68486, this pair ranks #58,665 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plaguing vs plugging
Shared letters: gilnpu. Private to "plaguing": a. Private to "plugging": -.
"plaguing" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCC · "plugging" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plaguing" for "plugging" ever safe?
Frequency check: "plaguing" vs "plugging" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "plaguing" and "plugging". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "plaguing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plugging" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,665 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plaguing" and "plugging" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plaguing vs planing". 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 #58,665 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.