decisionsvsdivisionsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“decisions” and “divisions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,933
“decisions” frequency rank
#5,957
“divisions” frequency rank
7890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decisions divisions
Definition plural of decision plural of division

Where the eye mixes decisions and divisions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. decisions and divisions follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
decisions
9 ch
divisions

Why the eye confuses decisions with divisions

A purely visual mix-up. decisions (/dɪˈsɪʒənz/) and divisions (/dɪˈvɪʒənz/) 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 7890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decisions is recorded at frequency rank #1,933, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈsɪʒənz/. divisions is at rank #5,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈvɪʒənz/.

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 7890, this pair ranks #505,103 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decisions vs divisions

Shared letters: dinos. Private to "decisions": ce. Private to "divisions": v.

"decisions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC  ·  "divisions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decisions ← dceisions · ddecisions · deccisions · deciisons · decisinos · decisionns · decisionss · decisiosn
  • divisions ← ddivisions · diivsions · diviisons · divisinos · divisionns · divisionss · divisiosn · divisoins

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decisions" and "divisions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/dɪˈsɪʒənz/ versus /dɪˈvɪʒənz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decisions" or "divisions"?
"decisions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,933 in our English list, against #5,957 for "divisions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "decisions" and "divisions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decisions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "divisions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #505,103 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decisions" and "divisions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decisions vs derision". 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 #505,103 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