Which to use
“smiling” is an adjective and “spoiling” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,628
- “smiling” frequency rank
- #21,075
- “spoiling” frequency rank
- 26703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | smiling | spoiling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That smiles or has a smile. | plunder; pillage |
Letter map: smiling vs spoiling
Shared letters muted; letters that set smiling and spoiling apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: smiling vs spoiling
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: smiling is anadjective and spoilinganoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
smiling is recorded at frequency rank #5,628, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsmaɪlɪŋ/. spoiling is at rank #21,075, 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 26703, this pair ranks #384,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of smiling vs spoiling
Shared letters: gilns. Private to "smiling": m. Private to "spoiling": op.
"smiling" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "spoiling" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "smiling" and "spoiling" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "smiling" or "spoiling" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "smiling" and "spoiling".
- Full dictionary entry for "smiling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spoiling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "smiling" and "spoiling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spoiling vs spoofing". 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 #384,695 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.