Which to use
“incision” is a noun and “incisive” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,566
- “incision” frequency rank
- #38,901
- “incisive” frequency rank
- 62467
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incision | incisive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A cut, especially one made by a scalpel or similar medical tool in the context of surgical operation; the scar resulting from such a cut. | Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process) |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set incision and incisive apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: incision is /ɪnˈsɪʒən/ while incisive is /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incision is recorded at frequency rank #23,566, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈsɪʒən/. incisive is at rank #38,901, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/.
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 62467, this pair ranks #88,362 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of incision vs incisive
Shared letters: cins. Private to "incision": o. Private to "incisive": ev.
"incision" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "incisive" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "incision" and "incisive" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "incision" or "incisive"?
Remembering incision vs incisive
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “incision”; for an adjective, it's “incisive”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “incision” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable