Which to use
“decision” and “division” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #847
- “decision” frequency rank
- #1,451
- “division” frequency rank
- 2298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decision | division |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of deciding. | The act or process of dividing anything. |
Where the eye mixes decision and division
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between decision and division
A purely visual mix-up. decision (/dɪˈsɪʒn̩/) and division (/dɪˈvɪʒn̩/) 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 2298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decision is recorded at frequency rank #847, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈsɪʒn̩/. division is at rank #1,451, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈvɪʒn̩/.
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 2298, this pair ranks #525,327 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of decision vs division
Shared letters: dinos. Private to "decision": ce. Private to "division": v.
"decision" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "division" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "decision" for "division" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "decision" or "division" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "decision" and "division" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "decision" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "division" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #525,327 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decision" and "division" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decision vs Denison". 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 #525,327 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.