Which to use
“passion” and “passions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,382
- “passion” frequency rank
- #13,393
- “passions” frequency rank
- 16775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passion | passions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A true desire sustained or prolonged. | plural of passion |
Where the eye mixes passion and passions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. passion runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against passions's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses passion with passions
A purely visual mix-up. passion (/ˈpæʃən/) and passions (/ˈpæʃənz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “passion” sits inside “passions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passion is recorded at frequency rank #3,382, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæʃən/. passions is at rank #13,393, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæʃənz/.
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 16775, this pair ranks #455,646 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passion vs passions
Shared letters: ainops. Private to "passion": -. Private to "passions": -.
"passion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "passions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passion" and "passions" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "passion" or "passions"?
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 "passion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,646 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passion" and "passions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parson vs passion". 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 #455,646 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.