Which to use
“staking” and “sticking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,033
- “staking” frequency rank
- #6,964
- “sticking” frequency rank
- 39997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | staking | sticking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of stake | present participle and gerund of stick |
Letter map: staking vs sticking
Shared letters muted; letters that set staking and sticking apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Pair insight - staking / sticking
staking and sticking are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
staking is recorded at frequency rank #33,033, classified as averb. sticking is at rank #6,964, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈstɪkɪŋ/.
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 39997, this pair ranks #271,594 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of staking vs sticking
Shared letters: giknst. Private to "staking": a. Private to "sticking": c.
"staking" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "sticking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "staking" and "sticking" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "staking" vs "sticking" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "staking" and "sticking". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "staking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sticking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,594 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "staking" and "sticking" 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 #271,594 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.