Which to use
“significance” is a noun and “significant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,363
- “significance” frequency rank
- #1,129
- “significant” frequency rank
- 6492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | significance | significant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The extent to which something matters; importance | Signifying something; carrying meaning. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set significance and significant apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
significance and significant form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
significance is recorded at frequency rank #5,363, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəns/. significant is at rank #1,129, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɪɡˈnɪf.ɪ.kənt/.
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 6492, this pair ranks #511,198 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "significance" and "significant" be used interchangeably?
Remembering significance vs significant
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “significance”; for an adjective, it's “significant”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “significance” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable