Which to use
“sanction” and “sanctions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,582
- “sanction” frequency rank
- #7,738
- “sanctions” frequency rank
- 24320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sanction | sanctions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid. | plural of sanction |
Where the eye mixes sanction and sanctions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. sanction runs 8 letters (CVCCCVVC) against sanctions's 9 (CVCCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sanction and sanctions
A purely visual mix-up. sanction (/ˈsæŋkʃ(ə)n/) and sanctions (/sæŋkʃənz/) 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) - “sanction” sits inside “sanctions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sanction is recorded at frequency rank #16,582, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsæŋkʃ(ə)n/. sanctions is at rank #7,738, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sæŋkʃənz/.
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 24320, this pair ranks #402,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sanction vs sanctions
Shared letters: acinost. Private to "sanction": -. Private to "sanctions": -.
"sanction" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "sanctions" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sanction" and "sanctions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "sanction" or "sanctions" show up more?
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 "sanction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sanctions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sanction" and "sanctions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sanction vs sanctity". 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 #402,854 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.