writhingvswritingsWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: writhing is a adjective, writings is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“writhing” is an adjective and “writings” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,249
“writhing” frequency rank
#7,411
“writings” frequency rank
45660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature writhing writings
Definition Bended in twisting struggle. plural of writing

Letter map: writhing vs writings

Shared letters muted; letters that set writhing and writings apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. writhing (CCVCCVCC) and writings (CCVCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
writhing
8 ch
writings

Role in the sentence - writhing and writings

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: writhing is anadjective and writingsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

writhing is recorded at frequency rank #38,249, classified as anadj. writings is at rank #7,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹaɪtɪŋz/.

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 45660, this pair ranks #219,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of writhing vs writings

Shared letters: ginrtw. Private to "writhing": h. Private to "writings": s.

"writhing" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "writings" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • writhing ← rwithing · wirthing · wrihting · writhhing · writhign · writhingg · writhinng · writhnig
  • writings ← rwitings · wirtings · wriitngs · writigns · writinggs · writingss · writinngs · writinsg

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "writhing" and "writings" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "writhing" is an adjective and "writings" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "writhing" or "writings" show up more?
"writings" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,411 in our English list, against #38,249 for "writhing". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "writhing" and "writings". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "writhing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "writings" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #219,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "writhing" and "writings" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wringing vs writhing". 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 #219,126 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list