Which to use
“spying” is a verb and “string” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,145
- “spying” frequency rank
- #3,658
- “string” frequency rank
- 15803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spying | string |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of spy | A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together. |
Where the eye mixes spying and string
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between spying and string
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spying is /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/ while string is /stɹɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spying is recorded at frequency rank #12,145, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/. string is at rank #3,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɹɪŋ/.
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 15803, this pair ranks #461,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spying vs string
Shared letters: gins. Private to "spying": py. Private to "string": rt.
"spying" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "string" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spying" and "string" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "spying" or "string" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spying" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "string" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #461,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spying" and "string" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spiny vs spying". 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 #461,692 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.