trimmingvstrimmingsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“trimming” and “trimmings” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,686
“trimming” frequency rank
#39,136
“trimmings” frequency rank
60822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trimming trimmings
Definition The act or process of someone who trims. Accompaniments to a meal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set trimming and trimmings apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
trimming
9 ch
trimmings

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

trimming and trimmings 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 extra letter(s) - “trimming” sits inside “trimmings”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trimming is recorded at frequency rank #21,686, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɹɪmɪŋ/. trimmings is at rank #39,136, 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 60822, this pair ranks #97,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of trimming vs trimmings

Shared letters: gimnrt. Private to "trimming": -. Private to "trimmings": s.

"trimming" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "trimmings" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trimmingrtimming · tirmming · trimimng · triming · trimmign · trimmingg · trimminng · trimmnig
  • trimmingsrtimmings · tirmmings · trimimngs · trimings · trimmigns · trimminggs · trimmingss · trimminngs

Frequency comparison

trimming#21,686
trimmings#39,136

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trimming" and "trimmings" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “trimming” sits inside “trimmings”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "trimming" or "trimmings"?
"trimming" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,686 in our English list, against #39,136 for "trimmings". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering trimming vs trimmings

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “trimming” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list