Which to use
“processing” and “procession” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,253
- “processing” frequency rank
- #13,589
- “procession” frequency rank
- 16842
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | processing | procession |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of the verb to process. | The act of progressing or proceeding. |
Where the eye mixes processing and procession
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: processing vs procession
A purely visual mix-up. processing (/ˈpɹəʊsɛsɪŋ/) and procession (/pɹəˈsɛʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
processing is recorded at frequency rank #3,253, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹəʊsɛsɪŋ/. procession is at rank #13,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹəˈsɛʃən/.
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 16842, this pair ranks #455,264 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of processing vs procession
Shared letters: ceinoprs. Private to "processing": g. Private to "procession": -.
"processing" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCC · "procession" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- processing ← porcessing · pprocessing · prcoessing · proccessing · procesing · procesisng · processign · processingg
- procession ← porcession · pprocession · prcoession · proccession · procesion · procesison · processino · processionn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "processing" and "procession" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "processing" or "procession"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "processing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "procession" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,264 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "processing" and "procession" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "procession vs processor". 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 #455,264 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.