Which to use
“defence” is a noun and “defend” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,940
- “defence” frequency rank
- #3,159
- “defend” frequency rank
- 6099
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defence | defend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury. | To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard. |
Where the eye mixes defence and defend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. defence runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against defend's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses defence with defend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defence is /dɪˈfɛns/ while defend is /dɪˈfɛnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defence is recorded at frequency rank #2,940, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈfɛns/. defend is at rank #3,159, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfɛnd/.
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 6099, this pair ranks #512,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defence vs defend
Shared letters: defn. Private to "defence": c. Private to "defend": -.
"defence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "defend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "defence" for "defend" ever safe?
Which is more common, "defence" or "defend"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "defence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "defend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defence" and "defend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defence vs deference". 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 #512,751 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.