Which to use
“scratching” and “screeching” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,807
- “scratching” frequency rank
- #25,199
- “screeching” frequency rank
- 39006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scratching | screeching |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of scratch | present participle and gerund of screech |
Where the eye mixes scratching and screeching
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: scratching vs screeching
A purely visual mix-up. scratching (/ˈskɹæt͡ʃɪŋ/) and screeching (/ˈskɹiːt͡ʃɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scratching is recorded at frequency rank #13,807, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈskɹæt͡ʃɪŋ/. screeching is at rank #25,199, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈskɹiːt͡ʃɪŋ/.
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 39006, this pair ranks #280,734 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scratching vs screeching
Shared letters: cghinrs. Private to "scratching": at. Private to "screeching": e.
"scratching" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCCVCC · "screeching" · 10 letters · shape CCCVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- scratching ← csratching · scartching · sccratching · scracthing · scratcching · scratchhing · scratchign · scratchingg
- screeching ← csreeching · sccreeching · scereching · screcehing · screching · screecching · screechhing · screechign
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scratching" and "screeching" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "scratching" or "screeching" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "scratching" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "screeching" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,734 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scratching" and "screeching" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scathing vs scratching". 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 #280,734 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.