Which to use
“decency” and “defence” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,932
- “decency” frequency rank
- #2,940
- “defence” frequency rank
- 17872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decency | defence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The quality of being decent; propriety. | The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury. |
Where the eye mixes decency and defence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: decency vs defence
A purely visual mix-up. decency (/ˈdiːsənsi/) and defence (/dɪˈfɛns/) 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 17872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decency is recorded at frequency rank #14,932, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdiːsənsi/. defence is at rank #2,940, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈfɛns/.
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 17872, this pair ranks #448,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of decency vs defence
Shared letters: cden. Private to "decency": y. Private to "defence": f.
"decency" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "defence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "decency" and "defence" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "decency" vs "defence" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "decency" and "defence" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "decency" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "defence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #448,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decency" and "defence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decency vs decently". 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 #448,577 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.