Which to use
“severing” and “shivering” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,338
- “severing” frequency rank
- #24,306
- “shivering” frequency rank
- 60644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | severing | shivering |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of sever | present participle and gerund of shiver |
Where the eye mixes severing and shivering
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between severing and shivering
A purely visual mix-up. severing (/ˈsɛvəɹɪŋ/) and shivering (/ˈʃɪvəɹɪŋ/) 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 60644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
severing is recorded at frequency rank #36,338, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛvəɹɪŋ/. shivering is at rank #24,306, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈʃɪvəɹɪŋ/.
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 60644, this pair ranks #99,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of severing vs shivering
Shared letters: eginrsv. Private to "severing": -. Private to "shivering": h.
"severing" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "shivering" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "severing" for "shivering" ever safe?
Frequency check: "severing" vs "shivering" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "severing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shivering" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "severing" and "shivering" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seeping vs severing". 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 #99,012 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.