additionvsauditionWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“addition” and “audition” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,037
“addition” frequency rank
#9,998
“audition” frequency rank
11035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature addition audition
Definition The act of adding anything. A performance, by an aspiring performer, to demonstrate suitability or talent.

Where the eye mixes addition and audition

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. addition (VCCVCVVC) and audition (VVCVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
addition
8 ch
audition

Visual trap between addition and audition

A purely visual mix-up. addition (/əˈdɪʃ.ən/) and audition (/ɑˈdɪʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “addition” becomes u in “audition”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

addition is recorded at frequency rank #1,037, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈdɪʃ.ən/. audition is at rank #9,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɑˈdɪʃən/.

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 11035, this pair ranks #489,229 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of addition vs audition

Shared letters: adinot. Private to "addition": -. Private to "audition": u.

"addition" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC  ·  "audition" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • addition ← addiiton · addision · additino · additionn · additoin · addittion · addtiion · adidtion
  • audition ← aduition · auddition · audiiton · audision · auditino · auditionn · auditoin · audittion

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "addition" and "audition" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/əˈdɪʃ.ən/ versus /ɑˈdɪʃən/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "addition" vs "audition" - which ranks higher?
"addition" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,037 in our English list, against #9,998 for "audition". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "addition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "audition" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #489,229 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "addition" and "audition" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adaption vs addition". 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 #489,229 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