Which to use
“waning” and “warning” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,334
- “waning” frequency rank
- #2,564
- “warning” frequency rank
- 29898
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | waning | warning |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of wane | present participle of warn |
Where the eye mixes waning and warning
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: waning vs warning
A purely visual mix-up. waning (/ˈweɪ.nɪŋ/) and warning (/ˈwɔɹnɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29898, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
waning is recorded at frequency rank #27,334, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈweɪ.nɪŋ/. warning is at rank #2,564, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈwɔɹnɪŋ/.
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 29898, this pair ranks #359,108 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of waning vs warning
Shared letters: aginw. Private to "waning": -. Private to "warning": r.
"waning" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "warning" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "waning" for "warning" ever safe?
Which is more common, "waning" or "warning"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "waning" and "warning" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "waning" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "warning" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,108 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "waning" and "warning" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waning vs winging". 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 #359,108 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.