Which to use
“scaring” and “staking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,055
- “scaring” frequency rank
- #33,033
- “staking” frequency rank
- 54088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scaring | staking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of scare | present participle and gerund of stake |
Letter map: scaring vs staking
Shared letters muted; letters that set scaring and staking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. scaring and staking follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Corpus notes: scaring and staking
scaring and staking are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scaring is recorded at frequency rank #21,055, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈskɛː.ɹɪŋ/. staking is at rank #33,033, tagged as averb.
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 54088, this pair ranks #143,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scaring vs staking
Shared letters: agins. Private to "scaring": cr. Private to "staking": kt.
"scaring" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "staking" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scaring" and "staking" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "scaring" or "staking"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scaring" and "staking".
- Full dictionary entry for "scaring" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "staking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scaring" and "staking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staking vs sulking". 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 #143,799 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.