Which to use
“stalling” is a noun and “startling” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,112
- “stalling” frequency rank
- #17,252
- “startling” frequency rank
- 40364
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stalling | startling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of a person or thing that stalls. | present participle and gerund of startle |
Letter map: stalling vs startling
Shared letters muted; letters that set stalling and startling apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - stalling and startling
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stalling is anoun and startlingaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stalling is recorded at frequency rank #23,112, classified as anoun. startling is at rank #17,252, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈstɑɹ.tl̩.ɪŋ/.
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 40364, this pair ranks #268,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stalling vs startling
Shared letters: agilnst. Private to "stalling": -. Private to "startling": r.
"stalling" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "startling" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stalling" for "startling" ever safe?
Which is more common, "stalling" or "startling"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "stalling" and "startling". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "stalling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "startling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stalling" and "startling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scalping vs stalling". 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 #268,259 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.