Which to use
“disability” and “durability” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,027
- “disability” frequency rank
- #16,012
- “durability” frequency rank
- 21039
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | disability | durability |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A condition characterised by a significant limitation in a person's physical or intellectual powers or ability. | The ability to last a long time by virtue of the power to resist stress or force. |
Where the eye mixes disability and durability
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: disability vs durability
A purely visual mix-up. disability (/dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/) and durability (/dəɹəˈbɪləti/) 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 21039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
disability is recorded at frequency rank #5,027, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/. durability is at rank #16,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dəɹəˈbɪləti/.
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 21039, this pair ranks #426,850 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of disability vs durability
Shared letters: abdilty. Private to "disability": s. Private to "durability": ru.
"disability" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCV · "durability" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- disability ← ddisability · diasbility · disabbility · disabiilty · disabilitty · disabilityy · disabiliyt · disabillity
- durability ← ddurability · druability · duarbility · durabbility · durabiilty · durabilitty · durabilityy · durabiliyt
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "disability" and "durability" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "disability" vs "durability" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "disability" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durability" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,850 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #426,850 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.