Which to use
“censor” and “census” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,034
- “censor” frequency rank
- #5,198
- “census” frequency rank
- 23232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censor | census |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality. | An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals. |
Where the eye mixes censor and census
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: censor vs census
A purely visual mix-up. censor (/ˈsɛnsə/) and census (/ˈsɛnsəs/) 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 23232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censor is recorded at frequency rank #18,034, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛnsə/. census is at rank #5,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛnsəs/.
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 23232, this pair ranks #410,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of censor vs census
Shared letters: cens. Private to "censor": or. Private to "census": u.
"censor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "census" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "censor" and "census" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "censor" or "census" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "censor" and "census" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "censor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "census" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censor" and "census" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "candor vs censor". 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 #410,771 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.