collusion
/kəˈluːʒən/
"collusion" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“collusion” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,437 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,437
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A private, cooperative agreement or arrangement between groups that otherwise maintain the pretense of competition, contention or non-cooperation.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | collusion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kəˈluːʒən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #16,437 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “collusion” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for collusion is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈluːʒən/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,437 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for collusion, with forms such as "ccollusion", "clolusion", and "collsuion". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "confusion", "conclusion", "collision", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Dated from the 14th century C.E. as Middle English collusioun, collusion; from Old French collusion, from Latin collusio (“act of colluding”). The correct English form is collusion, spelled C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A private, cooperative agreement or arrangement between groups that otherwise maintain the pretense of competition, contention or non-cooperation.
- 2A private agreement for a fraudulent or illegal purpose; conspiracy.
Etymology
Dated from the 14th century C.E. as Middle English collusioun, collusion; from Old French collusion, from Latin collusio (“act of colluding”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccollusion,clolusion,collsuion,colluison,collusino,collusionn,collusoin,collussion,collution,colulsion,colusion,ocllusion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of collusion - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “collusion”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈluːʒən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “confusion” - see the side-by-side comparison. collusion vs confusion
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.