Which to use
“trance” and “truce” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,296
- “trance” frequency rank
- #14,654
- “truce” frequency rank
- 29950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trance | truce |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A dazed or unconscious condition. | A period of time in which no fighting takes place due to an agreement between the opposed parties. |
Where the eye mixes trance and truce
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. trance runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against truce's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses trance with truce
A purely visual mix-up. trance (/tɹɑːns/) and truce (/tɹuːs/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trance is recorded at frequency rank #15,296, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɹɑːns/. truce is at rank #14,654, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹuːs/.
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 29950, this pair ranks #358,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trance vs truce
Shared letters: cert. Private to "trance": an. Private to "truce": u.
"trance" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "truce" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trance" for "truce" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "trance" or "truce" 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 "trance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "truce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trance" and "truce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Thule vs truce". 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 #358,655 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.