Which to use
“selling” and “spellings” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,646
- “selling” frequency rank
- #37,702
- “spellings” frequency rank
- 39348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | selling | spellings |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action of the verb to sell. | plural of spelling |
Where the eye mixes selling and spellings
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. selling runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against spellings's 9 (CCVCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: selling vs spellings
A purely visual mix-up. selling (/ˈsɛlɪŋ/) and spellings (/ˈspɛlɪŋz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
selling is recorded at frequency rank #1,646, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛlɪŋ/. spellings is at rank #37,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈspɛlɪŋz/.
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 39348, this pair ranks #277,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of selling vs spellings
Shared letters: egilns. Private to "selling": -. Private to "spellings": p.
"selling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "spellings" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "selling" for "spellings" ever safe?
Frequency check: "selling" vs "spellings" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "selling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spellings" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "selling" and "spellings" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shillings vs spellings". 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 #277,539 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.