Which to use
“receding” is an adjective and “recording” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,193
- “receding” frequency rank
- #2,964
- “recording” frequency rank
- 33157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | receding | recording |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Going or moving back or further away from a previous position; gradually diminishing. | present participle and gerund of record |
Letter map: receding vs recording
Shared letters muted; letters that set receding and recording apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. receding runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against recording's 9 (CVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: receding vs recording
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: receding is anadjective and recordingaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
receding is recorded at frequency rank #30,193, classified as anadj. recording is at rank #2,964, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɔː(ɹ)dɪŋ/.
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 33157, this pair ranks #331,827 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of receding vs recording
Shared letters: cdeginr. Private to "receding": -. Private to "recording": o.
"receding" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "recording" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "receding" and "recording" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "receding" or "recording"?
Useful next steps
Pair "receding" vs "recording" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "receding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recording" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,827 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "receding" and "recording" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receding vs rereading". 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 #331,827 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.