condomvsCondonWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: condom is a noun, Condon is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“condom” is a noun and “Condon” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,947
“condom” frequency rank
#37,393
“Condon” frequency rank
50340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature condom Condon
Definition A flexible sleeve made of latex or other impermeable material such as polyurethane or sheepskin, worn over an erect penis during sexual intercourse as a contraceptive or as a way to prevent the spread of STIs during PIV, anal, or oral. A surname from Irish.

Letter map: condom vs Condon

Shared letters muted; letters that set condom and Condon apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
condom
6 ch
Condon

Role in the sentence - condom and Condon

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: condom is anoun and Condonaname. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “condom” becomes n in “Condon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

condom is recorded at frequency rank #12,947, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒn.dɒm/. Condon is at rank #37,393, tagged as aname.

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 50340, this pair ranks #175,209 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of condom vs Condon

Shared letters: cdno. Private to "condom": m. Private to "Condon": -.

"condom" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Condon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • condomccondom · cnodom · codnom · conddom · condmo · condomm · conndom · conodm
  • Condonccondon · cnodon · codnon · conddon · condno · condonn · conndon · conodn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "condom" and "Condon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "condom" is a noun and "Condon" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "condom" vs "Condon" - which ranks higher?
"condom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,947 in our English list, against #37,393 for "Condon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "condom" and "Condon". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "condom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Condon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #175,209 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "condom" and "Condon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Colson vs Condon". 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 #175,209 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