# national vs notional

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### national
*adjective · IPA /ˈnaʃ.ə.nəl/ · frequency rank #290*
Pertaining to a nation or country, especially as a whole; affecting, shared by, or existing throughout all of a nation.

### notional
*adjective · IPA /ˈnəʊʃənəl/ · frequency rank #46,659*
Of, containing, or being a notion; mental or imaginary.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/national-vs-notional