millionsvsmissionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#509
“millions” frequency rank
#3,151
“missions” frequency rank
3660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature millions missions
Definition Pluriel de million. Pluriel de mission.

Where the eye mixes millions and missions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
millions
8 ch
missions

Visual trap between millions and missions

A purely visual mix-up. millions (\mi.ljɔ̃\) and missions (\mi.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 3660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

millions is recorded at frequency rank #509, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.ljɔ̃\. missions is at rank #3,151, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.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 3660, this pair ranks #433,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of millions vs missions

Shared letters: imnos. Private to "millions": l. Private to "missions": -.

"millions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC  ·  "missions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • millionsimllions · mililons · milions · millinos · millionns · millionss · milliosn · milloins
  • missionsimssions · misions · misisons · missinos · missionns · missionss · missiosn · missoins

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "millions" and "missions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\mi.ljɔ̃\ versus \mi.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "millions" or "missions"?
"millions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #509 in our French list, against #3,151 for "missions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "millions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "missions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #433,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "millions" and "missions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maillons vs millions". 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 #433,480 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