seedingvsseemingConfusable pair

Which to use

“seeding” and “seeming” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,211
“seeding” frequency rank
#16,791
“seeming” frequency rank
39002
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seeding seeming
Definition present participle and gerund of seed present participle and gerund of seem

Where the eye mixes seeding and seeming

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
seeding
7 ch
seeming

Why the eye confuses seeding with seeming

A purely visual mix-up. seeding (/ˈsiːdɪŋ/) and seeming (/ˈsiːmɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “seeding” becomes m in “seeming”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seeding is recorded at frequency rank #22,211, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsiːdɪŋ/. seeming is at rank #16,791, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsiːmɪŋ/.

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 39002, this pair ranks #280,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seeding vs seeming

Shared letters: egins. Private to "seeding": d. Private to "seeming": m.

"seeding" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "seeming" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seedingeseding · sedeing · seding · seedding · seedign · seedingg · seedinng · seednig
  • seemingeseming · seeimng · seemign · seemingg · seeminng · seemming · seemnig · semeing

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seeding" and "seeming" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsiːdɪŋ/ versus /ˈsiːmɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "seeding" vs "seeming" - which ranks higher?
"seeming" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,791 in our English list, against #22,211 for "seeding". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seeding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seeming" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seeding" and "seeming" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seeding vs sledding". 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 #280,758 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