Which to use
“weighing” is a verb and “wishing” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,127
- “weighing” frequency rank
- #7,874
- “wishing” frequency rank
- 17001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weighing | wishing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of weigh | gerund of wish (“the act of making a wish”) |
Where the eye mixes weighing and wishing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. weighing runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against wishing's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses weighing with wishing
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weighing is /ˈweɪ.ɪŋ/ while wishing is /ˈwɪʃɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weighing is recorded at frequency rank #9,127, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈweɪ.ɪŋ/. wishing is at rank #7,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪʃɪŋ/.
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 17001, this pair ranks #454,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weighing vs wishing
Shared letters: ghinw. Private to "weighing": e. Private to "wishing": s.
"weighing" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "wishing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "weighing" for "wishing" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "weighing" or "wishing" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "weighing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wishing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #454,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weighing" and "wishing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "winging vs wishing". 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 #454,263 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.