Which to use
“competence” and “competency” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,307
- “competence” frequency rank
- #20,317
- “competency” frequency rank
- 33624
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competence | competency |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role. | The ability to perform some task; competence. |
Where the eye mixes competence and competency
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: competence vs competency
A purely visual mix-up. competence (/ˈkɒm.pə.təns/) and competency (/ˈkɒm.pə.tən.si/) 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 - e in “competence” becomes y in “competency”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
competence is recorded at frequency rank #13,307, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒm.pə.təns/. competency is at rank #20,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒm.pə.tən.si/.
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 33624, this pair ranks #327,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of competence vs competency
Shared letters: cemnopt. Private to "competence": -. Private to "competency": y.
"competence" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "competency" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- competence ← ccompetence · cmopetence · comeptence · commpetence · compeetnce · competance · competecne · competencce
- competency ← ccompetency · cmopetency · comeptency · commpetency · compeetncy · competecny · competenccy · competencyy
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "competence" and "competency" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "competence" vs "competency" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "competence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "competency" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competence" and "competency" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "competency vs competently". 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 #327,823 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.