# sphinx vs spying

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### sphinx
*noun · IPA /ˈsfɪŋks/ · frequency rank #29,100*
A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion.

### spying
*verb · IPA /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/ · frequency rank #12,145*
present participle and gerund of spy

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