shovingvsstoningWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: shoving is a verb, stoning is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“shoving” is a verb and “stoning” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,935
“shoving” frequency rank
#39,585
“stoning” frequency rank
61520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shoving stoning
Definition present participle and gerund of shove lapidation: punishment by throwing stones, usually resulting in death

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shoving and stoning apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
shoving
7 ch
stoning

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shoving is averb and stoninganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shoving is recorded at frequency rank #21,935, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʃʌvɪŋ/. stoning is at rank #39,585, tagged as anoun.

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 61520, this pair ranks #93,782 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of shoving vs stoning

Shared letters: ginos. Private to "shoving": hv. Private to "stoning": t.

"shoving" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "stoning" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shovinghsoving · shhoving · shoivng · shovign · shovingg · shovinng · shovnig · shovving
  • stoningsotning · sstoning · stnoing · stoinng · stonign · stoningg · stoninng · stonnig

Frequency comparison

shoving#21,935
stoning#39,585

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shoving" and "stoning" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shoving" is a verb and "stoning" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "shoving" or "stoning"?
"shoving" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,935 in our English list, against #39,585 for "stoning". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shoving vs stoning

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “shoving”; for a noun, it's “stoning”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “shoving” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list