Which to use
“precaution” and “precautions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,214
- “precaution” frequency rank
- #13,218
- “precautions” frequency rank
- 30432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | precaution | precautions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Previous caution or care; caution previously employed to prevent misfortune or to secure good. | plural of precaution |
Where the eye mixes precaution and precautions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses precaution with precautions
A purely visual mix-up. precaution (/pɹiːˈkɔːʃən/) and precautions (/pɹiːˈkɔːʃənz/) 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) - “precaution” sits inside “precautions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
precaution is recorded at frequency rank #17,214, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɹiːˈkɔːʃən/. precautions is at rank #13,218, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹiːˈkɔːʃənz/.
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 30432, this pair ranks #354,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of precaution vs precautions
Shared letters: aceinoprtu. Private to "precaution": -. Private to "precautions": s.
"precaution" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVVCVVC · "precautions" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- precaution ← percaution · pprecaution · prceaution · preacution · precatuion · precauiton · precausion · precautino
- precautions ← percautions · pprecautions · prceautions · preacutions · precatuions · precauitons · precautinos · precautionns
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "precaution" for "precautions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "precaution" or "precautions"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "precaution" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "precautions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "precaution" and "precautions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precaution vs predation". 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 #354,606 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.