Which to use
“inception” and “Intention” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,227
- “inception” frequency rank
- #1,773
- “Intention” frequency rank
- 48000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inception | Intention |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Commencement, début. | Intention. |
Where the eye mixes inception and Intention
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses inception with Intention
A purely visual mix-up. inception (\ɪn.ˈsɛp.ʃən\) and Intention (\ɪntɛnˈʦi̯oːn\) 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 48000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inception is recorded at frequency rank #46,227, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɪn.ˈsɛp.ʃən\. Intention is at rank #1,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɪntɛnˈʦi̯oːn\.
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 48000, this pair ranks #182,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of inception vs Intention
Shared letters: einot. Private to "inception": cp. Private to "Intention": -.
"inception" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "Intention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "inception" for "Intention" ever safe?
Frequency check: "inception" vs "Intention" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "inception" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Intention" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #182,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inception" and "Intention" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inception vs ingestion". 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 #182,447 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.