Which to use
“incision” and “incursion” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,566
- “incision” frequency rank
- #30,842
- “incursion” frequency rank
- 54408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incision | incursion |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of destruction, plunder, or bodily harm rather than an intent to conquer territory or alter the established government; contrast invasion in its narrow sense. |
Where the eye mixes incision and incursion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between incision and incursion
A purely visual mix-up. incision (/ɪnˈsɪʒən/) and incursion (/ɪŋˈkɜː(ɹ)ʒən/) 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 54408, 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/. incursion is at rank #30,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪŋˈkɜː(ɹ)ʒən/.
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 54408, this pair ranks #141,304 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of incision vs incursion
Shared letters: cinos. Private to "incision": -. Private to "incursion": ru.
"incision" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "incursion" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "incision" and "incursion" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "incision" or "incursion"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "incision" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "incursion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,304 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incision" and "incursion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "incision vs incisive". 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 #141,304 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.