IntentionvsIntuitionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Intention” and “Intuition” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,596
“Intention” frequency rank
#19,959
“Intuition” frequency rank
34555
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Intention Intuition
Definition die Absicht, etwas zu tun Die Fähigkeit, impulsiv und unbewusst zu entscheiden und zu handeln.

Where the eye mixes Intention and Intuition

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Intention
9 ch
Intuition

Look-alike desk: Intention vs Intuition

A purely visual mix-up. Intention ([ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]) and Intuition ([ɪntuiˈt͡si̯oːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Intention is recorded at frequency rank #14,596, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]. Intuition is at rank #19,959, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɪntuiˈt͡si̯oːn].

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 34555, this pair ranks #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Intention vs Intuition

Shared letters: inot. Private to "Intention": e. Private to "Intuition": u.

"Intention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC  ·  "Intuition" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Intentioninetntion · inntention · inteniton · intenntion · intentino · intentionn · intentoin · intenttion
  • Intuitioninntuition · intiution · inttuition · intuiiton · intuitino · intuitionn · intuitoin · intuittion

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Intention" and "Intuition" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [ɪntuiˈt͡si̯oːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Intention" or "Intuition" show up more?
"Intention" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,596 in our German list, against #19,959 for "Intuition". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Intention" and "Intuition" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Intention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Intuition" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Intention" and "Intuition" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Intention vs Intonation". 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 #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list