Which to use
“million” is a num and “minion” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #469
- “million” frequency rank
- #27,217
- “minion” frequency rank
- 27686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | million | minion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The cardinal number 1 000 000: 10⁶; a thousand thousand. | A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being. |
Where the eye mixes million and minion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. million runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against minion's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between million and minion
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: million is /ˈmɪl.jən/ while minion is /ˈmɪnjən/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
million is recorded at frequency rank #469, classified as anum, pronounced /ˈmɪl.jən/. minion is at rank #27,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪnjən/.
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 27686, this pair ranks #376,933 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of million vs minion
Shared letters: imno. Private to "million": l. Private to "minion": -.
"million" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "minion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "million" and "minion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "million" or "minion"?
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 "million" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "minion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,933 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "million" and "minion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minion vs Minot". 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 #376,933 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.