# abrasion vs abrasive

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### abrasion
*noun · IPA /əˈbɹeɪ.ʒn̩/ · frequency rank #32,263*
The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction.

### abrasive
*adjective · IPA /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/ · frequency rank #21,713*
Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/abrasion-vs-abrasive