Which to use
“section” and “selection” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,097
- “section” frequency rank
- #2,404
- “selection” frequency rank
- 3501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | section | selection |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A cutting; a part cut out from the rest of something. | The process or act of selecting. |
Where the eye mixes section and selection
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: section vs selection
A purely visual mix-up. section (/ˈsɛkʃən/) and selection (/səˈlɛkʃən/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
section is recorded at frequency rank #1,097, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛkʃən/. selection is at rank #2,404, tagged as anoun, pronounced /səˈlɛkʃən/.
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 3501, this pair ranks #521,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of section vs selection
Shared letters: ceinost. Private to "section": -. Private to "selection": l.
"section" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "selection" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "section" for "selection" ever safe?
Which is more common, "section" or "selection"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "section" and "selection" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "section" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "selection" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "section" and "selection" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seaton vs section". 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 #521,930 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.