Which to use
“missiles” and “missions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,343
- “missiles” frequency rank
- #3,151
- “missions” frequency rank
- 10494
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | missiles | missions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de missile. | Pluriel de mission. |
Where the eye mixes missiles and missions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. missiles (CVCCVCVC) and missions (CVCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between missiles and missions
A purely visual mix-up. missiles (\mi.sil\) 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 10494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
missiles is recorded at frequency rank #7,343, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.sil\. 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 10494, this pair ranks #412,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of missiles vs missions
Shared letters: ims. Private to "missiles": el. Private to "missions": no.
"missiles" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "missions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "missiles" and "missions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "missiles" or "missions"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "missiles" 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 #412,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "missiles" and "missions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "missions vs moissons". 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 #412,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.