confession

/kənˈfɛʃən/

//kənˈfɛʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"confession" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“confession” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,527. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,527
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).

Corpus desk

Index EN-confession · confession · English

confession · rank #8,527 · 14 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,527
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH comprising

Nearest frequency peer: comprising (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “confession”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “confession” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

confession vs confusion
80% similar
confession vs confessor
80% similar
confession vs conversion
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for confession
PropertyValue
Headwordconfession
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kənˈfɛʃən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#8,527
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “confession” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).confessionlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “comprising” (#8,526), “consume” (#8,528), “committing” (#8,525). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around confession (IPA /kənˈfɛʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,527 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for confession, with forms such as "cconfession", "cnofession", and "cofnession". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "confusion", "confessor", "conversion", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio. Morphologically confess + -ion. Sens… The correct English form is confession, spelled C-O-N-F-E-S-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).
  2. 2
    A formal document providing such an admission.
  3. 3
    The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now also termed the sacrament of reconciliation.
  4. 4
    Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
  5. 5
    A formula in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.
  6. 6
    The act of professing one's love.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how confession appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Without the real murderer's confession, an innocent person could be jailed.
  2. With a crafty madness keeps aloof, / When we would bring him on to some confession / Of his true state.

Etymology

From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio. Morphologically confess + -ion. Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).

This word in other languages

confesión(Español)confession(Français)Bekenntnis(Deutsch)confissão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cconfession
  • cnofession
  • cofnession
  • conefssion
  • confesion
  • confesison
  • confessino
  • confessionn
  • confessoin
  • confestion
  • conffession
  • confsesion
  • connfession
  • ocnfession

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of confession - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

cconfession1cnofession2cofnession2conefssion2confesion1confesison2confessino2confessionn1
Edit distance from "confession"

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

How do you spell "confession"?
"confession" is spelled C-O-N-F-E-S-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kənˈfɛʃən/.
What does "confession" mean?
As a noun, "confession" means: The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).
What words are commonly confused with "confession"?
"confession" is commonly confused with "confusion", "confessor", "conversion". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "confession"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "confession" is /kənˈfɛʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "confession"?
From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio. Morphologically confess + ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "confession", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

comprising#8,526committing#8,525critically#8,532distracted#8,534

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

attachment14 variantstrademark14 variantsspecialty14 variantssincerely14 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "confession". Here's where to go from here.

  • "confession" maps to 8 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "confusion". View pair
  • 14 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #8,527 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list