Which to use
“recollection” and “recollections” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,202
- “recollection” frequency rank
- #27,617
- “recollections” frequency rank
- 47819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recollection | recollections |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of recollecting, or recalling to the memory; the act of recalling to memory. | plural of recollection |
Where the eye mixes recollection and recollections
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: recollection vs recollections
A purely visual mix-up. recollection (/ɹɛkəˈlɛkʃən/) and recollections (/ɹɛkəˈlɛkʃənz/) 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) - “recollection” sits inside “recollections”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recollection is recorded at frequency rank #20,202, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɛkəˈlɛkʃən/. recollections is at rank #27,617, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɛkəˈlɛkʃənz/.
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 47819, this pair ranks #198,920 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recollection vs recollections
Shared letters: ceilnort. Private to "recollection": -. Private to "recollections": s.
"recollection" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVVC · "recollections" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- recollection ← ercollection · rceollection · reccollection · reclolection · recolection · recolelction · recollcetion · recollecction
- recollections ← ercollections · rceollections · reccollections · reclolections · recolections · recolelctions · recollcetions · recollecctions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recollection" and "recollections" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "recollection" vs "recollections" - which ranks higher?
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 "recollection" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recollections" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,920 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #198,920 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.