Which to use
“stealing” is a noun and “straying” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,897
- “stealing” frequency rank
- #42,425
- “straying” frequency rank
- 47322
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stealing | straying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of the verb to steal, theft. | present participle and gerund of stray |
Letter map: stealing vs straying
Shared letters muted; letters that set stealing and straying apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Grammar separator: stealing vs straying
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stealing is anoun and strayingaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stealing is recorded at frequency rank #4,897, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈstiːlɪŋ/. straying is at rank #42,425, tagged as averb.
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 47322, this pair ranks #203,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stealing vs straying
Shared letters: aginst. Private to "stealing": el. Private to "straying": ry.
"stealing" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC · "straying" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stealing" for "straying" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "stealing" or "straying" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "stealing" and "straying".
- Full dictionary entry for "stealing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "straying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stealing" and "straying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "straying vs striding". 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 #203,500 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.