wingingvswinningsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: winging is a verb, winnings is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“winging” is a verb and “winnings” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,424
“winging” frequency rank
#21,425
“winnings” frequency rank
68849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature winging winnings
Definition present participle and gerund of wing plural of winning

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
winging
8 ch
winnings

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: winging is /ˈwɪŋɪŋ/ while winnings is /ˈwɪnɪŋz/. 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 68849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

winging is recorded at frequency rank #47,424, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈwɪŋɪŋ/. 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 68849, this pair ranks #57,070 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of winging vs winnings

Shared letters: ginw. Private to "winging": -. Private to "winnings": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wingingiwnging · wigning · wingging · wingign · wingingg · winginng · wingnig · winigng
  • winningsiwnnings · winings · wininngs · winnigns · winninggs · winningss · winninngs · winninsg

Frequency comparison

winging#47,424
winnings#21,425

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "winging" and "winnings" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "winging" is a verb and "winnings" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "winging" or "winnings"?
"winnings" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,425 in our English list, against #47,424 for "winging". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering winging vs winnings

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “winging”; for a noun, it's “winnings”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “winging” 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