Which to use
“defence” and “defiance” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,940
- “defence” frequency rank
- #15,382
- “defiance” frequency rank
- 18322
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defence | defiance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury. | The feeling, or spirit of being defiant. |
Where the eye mixes defence and defiance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. defence (/dɪˈfɛns/) and defiance (/dɪˈfaɪ(j)əns/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18322, 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/. defiance is at rank #15,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈfaɪ(j)əns/.
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 18322, this pair ranks #445,645 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defence vs defiance
Shared letters: cdefn. Private to "defence": -. Private to "defiance": ai.
"defence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "defiance" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV