Which to use
“staking” is a verb and “sulking” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,033
- “staking” frequency rank
- #48,518
- “sulking” frequency rank
- 81551
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | staking | sulking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of stake | The act of one who sulks. |
Letter map: staking vs sulking
Shared letters muted; letters that set staking and sulking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. staking (CCVCVCC) and sulking (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: staking vs sulking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: staking is averb and sulkinganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
staking is recorded at frequency rank #33,033, classified as averb. sulking is at rank #48,518, tagged as anoun.
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 81551, this pair ranks #17,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of staking vs sulking
Shared letters: gikns. Private to "staking": at. Private to "sulking": lu.
"staking" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "sulking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "staking" and "sulking" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "staking" or "sulking"?
After this comparison
You've compared "staking" and "sulking". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "staking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sulking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "staking" and "sulking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suiting 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 #17,458 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.