ragingvsrakingConfusable pair

Quick tell: raging is a verb, raking is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“raging” is a verb and “raking” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,127
“raging” frequency rank
#30,932
“raking” frequency rank
43059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raging raking
Definition present participle and gerund of rage Swiftly moving.

Letter map: raging vs raking

Shared letters muted; letters that set raging and raking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
raging
6 ch
raking

Grammar separator: raging vs raking

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: raging is averb and rakinganadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - g in “raging” becomes k in “raking”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raging is recorded at frequency rank #12,127, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɹeɪd͡ʒɪŋ/. raking is at rank #30,932, tagged as anadj.

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 43059, this pair ranks #243,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raging vs raking

Shared letters: aginr. Private to "raging": -. Private to "raking": k.

"raging" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "raking" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ragingarging · ragging · ragign · ragingg · raginng · ragnig · raigng · rgaing
  • rakingarking · raikng · rakign · rakingg · rakinng · rakking · raknig · rkaing

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raging" and "raking" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raging" is a verb and "raking" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "raging" or "raking" show up more?
"raging" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,127 in our English list, against #30,932 for "raking". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "raging" and "raking".

  • Full dictionary entry for "raging" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raging" and "raking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raking vs retaking". 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 #243,596 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list