constipationvsconstitutionWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“constipation” and “constitution” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,897
“constipation” frequency rank
#1,810
“constitution” frequency rank
33707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature constipation constitution
Definition État d’une personne ou d’un animal qui est constipé. Manière dont une chose est constituée, dont ses éléments combinés forment un tout.

Where the eye mixes constipation and constitution

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

12 ch
constipation
12 ch
constitution

Look-alike desk: constipation vs constitution

A purely visual mix-up. constipation (\kɔ̃s.ti.pa.sjɔ̃\) and constitution (\kɔ̃.sti.ty.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

constipation is recorded at frequency rank #31,897, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃s.ti.pa.sjɔ̃\. constitution is at rank #1,810, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sti.ty.sjɔ̃\.

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 33707, this pair ranks #288,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of constipation vs constitution

Shared letters: cinost. Private to "constipation": ap. Private to "constitution": u.

"constipation" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVVC  ·  "constitution" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • constipationcconstipation · cnostipation · connstipation · consitpation · consstipation · constiaption · constipaiton · constipatino
  • constitutioncconstitution · cnostitution · connstitution · consittution · consstitution · constittuion · constittution · constituiton

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "constipation" and "constitution" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃s.ti.pa.sjɔ̃\ versus \kɔ̃.sti.ty.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "constipation" or "constitution"?
"constitution" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,810 in our French list, against #31,897 for "constipation". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "constipation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "constitution" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #288,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "constipation" and "constitution" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constatation vs constipation". 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 #288,839 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list