Which to use
“inquisition” and “inquisitor” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,348
- “inquisition” frequency rank
- #34,938
- “inquisitor” frequency rank
- 53286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inquisition | inquisitor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An inquiry or investigation into the truth of some matter. | A person who inquires, especially searchingly or ruthlessly. |
Where the eye mixes inquisition and inquisitor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. inquisition runs 11 letters (VCCVVCVCVVC) against inquisitor's 10 (VCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between inquisition and inquisitor
A purely visual mix-up. inquisition (/ˌɪŋkwɪˈzɪʃən/) and inquisitor (/ɪnˈkwɪzətəɹ/) 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 53286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inquisition is recorded at frequency rank #18,348, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌɪŋkwɪˈzɪʃən/. inquisitor is at rank #34,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈkwɪzətəɹ/.
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 53286, this pair ranks #150,194 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of inquisition vs inquisitor
Shared letters: inoqstu. Private to "inquisition": -. Private to "inquisitor": r.
"inquisition" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVVC · "inquisitor" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- inquisition ← innquisition · inqiusition · inqquisition · inquiistion · inquisiiton · inquisision · inquisitino · inquisitionn
- inquisitor ← innquisitor · inqiusitor · inqquisitor · inquiistor · inquisiotr · inquisitorr · inquisitro · inquisittor
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "inquisition" for "inquisitor" ever safe?
Which is more common, "inquisition" or "inquisitor"?
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 "inquisition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inquisitor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,194 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inquisition" and "inquisitor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inquisition vs inquisitive". 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 #150,194 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.