Which to use
“collection” and “connection” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,161
- “collection” frequency rank
- #1,788
- “connection” frequency rank
- 2949
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | collection | connection |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A set of items or amount of material procured, gathered or presented together. | The act of connecting. |
Where the eye mixes collection and connection
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: collection vs connection
A purely visual mix-up. collection (/kəˈlɛkʃən/) and connection (/kəˈnɛkʃ(ə)n/) 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 2949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
collection is recorded at frequency rank #1,161, classified as anoun, pronounced /kəˈlɛkʃən/. connection is at rank #1,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəˈnɛkʃ(ə)n/.
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 2949, this pair ranks #523,564 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of collection vs connection
Shared letters: ceinot. Private to "collection": l. Private to "connection": -.
"collection" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "connection" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- collection ← ccollection · clolection · colection · colelction · collcetion · collecction · colleciton · collecsion
- connection ← cconnection · cnonection · conection · conenction · conncetion · connecction · conneciton · connecsion
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "collection" for "connection" ever safe?
Which is more common, "collection" or "connection"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "collection" and "connection" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "collection" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "connection" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,564 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "collection" and "connection" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "collation vs collection". 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 #523,564 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.