I once asked a question with the title:
Is the word cloths still being used?
And someone edited it to:
Is the word cloths still used?
Why is the first progressive one wrong?
Learn English – “is still being used” versus “is still used”
progressive-aspectword-usage
Best Answer
There's a very small, subtle difference between the two constructions here, though both are valid and acceptable.
This might be construed as asking if cloths is, right at this exact moment, undergoing linguistic utilization.
This asks if people still currently make use of the word cloths, but does not inquire about whether it's being used just this second.
Really, the grammatical difference is negligible here. The present progressive does not necessarily mean the action is happening exactly at the time of speaking, and the majority of listeners will not make any semantic distinction between the two phrasings in this case. Consider this potential answer:
This response is perfectly valid to either version of the question. It conveys that cloths is still part of current English lexicon even though the actual usage of the word occurred in the past.
When we ask whether a word is used, it's understood that the state of being in use need not be literally continuous. Lexicon is currently a word that's used, because it's part of modern English vocabulary, and people say and understand it. It's not very likely that every moment someone is saying, writing or reading lexicon; it's probable that lexicon isn't literally being used at any given time. Despite this, we still consider it to be used because it shows up frequently enough in English.
The other differences between the two sentences are stylistic choice and frequency of use. Asking whether a word is still used is much more common than asking whether a word is still being used.