# spanking vs stinking

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### spanking
*verb · IPA /ˈspæŋkɪŋ/ · frequency rank #20,229*
present participle of spank

### stinking
*adjective · IPA /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/ · frequency rank #27,658*
Having a pungent smell.

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