Which to use
“sneaking” is a noun and “staking” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,793
- “sneaking” frequency rank
- #33,033
- “staking” frequency rank
- 49826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sneaking | staking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of one who sneaks. | present participle and gerund of stake |
Letter map: sneaking vs staking
Shared letters muted; letters that set sneaking and staking apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: sneaking vs staking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sneaking is anoun and stakingaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sneaking is recorded at frequency rank #16,793, classified as anoun. staking is at rank #33,033, tagged as averb.
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 49826, this pair ranks #179,911 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sneaking vs staking
Shared letters: agikns. Private to "sneaking": e. Private to "staking": t.
"sneaking" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC · "staking" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sneaking" for "staking" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sneaking" or "staking" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "sneaking" and "staking". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sneaking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "staking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,911 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sneaking" and "staking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staking 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 #179,911 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.