windingvswinningsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,155
“winding” frequency rank
#21,425
“winnings” frequency rank
32580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature winding winnings
Definition gerund of wind plural of winning

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set winding and winnings apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
winding
8 ch
winnings

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. winding (/ˈwɪndɪŋ/) and winnings (/ˈwɪnɪŋz/) 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 32580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

winding is recorded at frequency rank #11,155, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪndɪŋ/. winnings is at rank #21,425, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪnɪŋz/.

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 32580, this pair ranks #336,587 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of winding vs winnings

Shared letters: ginw. Private to "winding": d. Private to "winnings": s.

"winding" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "winnings" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • windingiwnding · widning · windding · windign · windingg · windinng · windnig · winidng
  • winningsiwnnings · winings · wininngs · winnigns · winninggs · winningss · winninngs · winninsg

Frequency comparison

winding#11,155
winnings#21,425

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "winding" and "winnings" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈwɪndɪŋ/ versus /ˈwɪnɪŋz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "winding" or "winnings"?
"winding" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,155 in our English list, against #21,425 for "winnings". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering winding vs winnings

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 “winding” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list