Which to use
“position” and “positron” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #624
- “position” frequency rank
- #45,010
- “positron” frequency rank
- 45634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | position | positron |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A place or location. | The antimatter equivalent of an electron, having the same mass but a positive charge. |
Where the eye mixes position and positron
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: position vs positron
A purely visual mix-up. position (/pəˈzɪʃ.ən/) and positron (/ˈpɒz.ɪ.tɹɒn/) 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 a single letter - i in “position” becomes r in “positron”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
position is recorded at frequency rank #624, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈzɪʃ.ən/. positron is at rank #45,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɒz.ɪ.tɹɒn/.
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 45634, this pair ranks #219,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of position vs positron
Shared letters: inopst. Private to "position": -. Private to "positron": r.
"position" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "positron" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "position" for "positron" ever safe?
Frequency check: "position" vs "positron" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "position" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "positron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "position" and "positron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positions vs positron". 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 #219,386 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.