settingsvssittingTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,893
“settings” frequency rank
#1,469
“sitting” frequency rank
6362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature settings sitting
Definition plural of setting A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose.

Where the eye mixes settings and sitting

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

8 ch
settings
7 ch
sitting

Visual trap between settings and sitting

A purely visual mix-up. settings (/ˈsɛtɪŋz/) and sitting (/ˈsɪtɪŋ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

settings is recorded at frequency rank #4,893, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛtɪŋz/. sitting is at rank #1,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪtɪŋ/.

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 6362, this pair ranks #511,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of settings vs sitting

Shared letters: ginst. Private to "settings": e. Private to "sitting": -.

"settings" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "sitting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • settingsesttings · setings · setitngs · settigns · settinggs · settingss · settinngs · settinsg
  • sittingistting · sititng · sittign · sittingg · sittinng · sittnig · ssitting · stiting

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "settings" and "sitting" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɛtɪŋz/ versus /ˈsɪtɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "settings" or "sitting"?
"sitting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,469 in our English list, against #4,893 for "settings". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "settings" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sitting" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #511,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "settings" and "sitting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sitting vs suiting". 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 #511,730 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