Which to use
“mansion” and “mission” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,933
- “mansion” frequency rank
- #1,430
- “mission” frequency rank
- 8363
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mansion | mission |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large luxurious house or building, usually built for the wealthy. | A set of tasks that fulfills a purpose or duty; an assignment set by an employer, or by oneself. |
Where the eye mixes mansion and mission
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mansion and mission follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses mansion with mission
A purely visual mix-up. mansion (/ˈmæn.ʃən/) and mission (/ˈmɪʃ.ən/) 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 8363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mansion is recorded at frequency rank #6,933, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmæn.ʃən/. mission is at rank #1,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪʃ.ən/.
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 8363, this pair ranks #502,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mansion vs mission
Shared letters: imnos. Private to "mansion": a. Private to "mission": -.
"mansion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "mission" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mansion" for "mission" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mansion" or "mission"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mansion" and "mission" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mansion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mission" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mansion" and "mission" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mansion vs Marston". 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 #502,877 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.