Which to use
“sinking” and “sitting” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,251
- “sinking” frequency rank
- #1,469
- “sitting” frequency rank
- 10720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sinking | sitting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gerund of sink: the process by which something sinks, or is sunk. | A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose. |
Where the eye mixes sinking and sitting
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sinking vs sitting
A purely visual mix-up. sinking (/ˈsɪŋkɪŋ/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sinking is recorded at frequency rank #9,251, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪŋkɪŋ/. 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 10720, this pair ranks #490,875 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sinking vs sitting
Shared letters: gins. Private to "sinking": k. Private to "sitting": t.
"sinking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "sitting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sinking" for "sitting" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sinking" vs "sitting" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sinking" 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 #490,875 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sinking" and "sitting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sinking vs sulking". 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 #490,875 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.