Which to use
“emotion” and “emotions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,215
- “emotion” frequency rank
- #3,807
- “emotions” frequency rank
- 9022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | emotion | emotions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Movement; agitation. | plural of emotion |
Where the eye mixes emotion and emotions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. emotion runs 7 letters (VCVCVVC) against emotions's 8 (VCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses emotion with emotions
A purely visual mix-up. emotion (/ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/) and emotions (/ɪˈməʊ.ʃənz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “emotion” sits inside “emotions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
emotion is recorded at frequency rank #5,215, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/. emotions is at rank #3,807, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈməʊ.ʃənz/.
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 9022, this pair ranks #499,476 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of emotion vs emotions
Shared letters: eimnot. Private to "emotion": -. Private to "emotions": s.
"emotion" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC · "emotions" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "emotion" for "emotions" ever safe?
Frequency check: "emotion" vs "emotions" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "emotion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emotions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #499,476 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "emotion" and "emotions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elation vs emotion". 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 #499,476 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.