Which to use
“portions” and “potion” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,376
- “portions” frequency rank
- #19,169
- “potion” frequency rank
- 26545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | portions | potion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of portion | A small portion or dose of a liquid which is medicinal, poisonous, or magical. |
Where the eye mixes portions and potion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: portions vs potion
A purely visual mix-up. portions (/ˈpɔɹʃənz/) and potion (/ˈpəʊ.ʃən/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
portions is recorded at frequency rank #7,376, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔɹʃənz/. potion is at rank #19,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpəʊ.ʃən/.
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 26545, this pair ranks #385,900 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of portions vs potion
Shared letters: inopt. Private to "portions": rs. Private to "potion": -.
"portions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "potion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "portions" and "potion" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "portions" vs "potion" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "portions" and "potion" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "portions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "potion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,900 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "portions" and "potion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poon vs potion". 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 #385,900 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.