Which to use
“convention” and “conviction” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,985
- “convention” frequency rank
- #5,668
- “conviction” frequency rank
- 8653
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | convention | conviction |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A meeting or gathering. | A firmly held belief. |
Where the eye mixes convention and conviction
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. convention and conviction follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: convention vs conviction
A purely visual mix-up. convention (/kənˈvɛn.ʃən/) and conviction (/kənˈvɪk.ʃən/) 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 8653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
convention is recorded at frequency rank #2,985, classified as anoun, pronounced /kənˈvɛn.ʃən/. conviction is at rank #5,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kənˈvɪk.ʃən/.
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 8653, this pair ranks #501,407 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of convention vs conviction
Shared letters: cinotv. Private to "convention": e. Private to "conviction": -.
"convention" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "conviction" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- convention ← cconvention · cnovention · conevntion · connvention · conveniton · convenntion · convension · conventino
- conviction ← cconviction · cnoviction · conivction · connviction · convcition · convicction · conviciton · convicsion
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "convention" for "conviction" ever safe?
Frequency check: "convention" vs "conviction" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "convention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "conviction" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,407 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "convention" and "conviction" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "concoction vs conviction". 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 #501,407 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.