# shearing vs stealing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shearing
*adjective · frequency rank #34,281*
Tending to cut or tear.

### stealing
*noun · IPA /ˈstiːlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #4,897*
The action of the verb to steal, theft.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shearing-vs-stealing