prédictionvsprédilectionWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,291
“prédiction” frequency rank
#12,844
“prédilection” frequency rank
31135
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prédiction prédilection
Definition Action de prédire. Préférence d’amitié, d’affection, de goût.

Where the eye mixes prédiction and prédilection

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. prédiction runs 10 letters (CCVCVCCVVC) against prédilection's 12 (CCVCVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
prédiction
12 ch
prédilection

Visual trap between prédiction and prédilection

A purely visual mix-up. prédiction (\pʁe.dik.sjɔ̃\) and prédilection (\pʁe.di.lɛk.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prédiction is recorded at frequency rank #18,291, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.dik.sjɔ̃\. prédilection is at rank #12,844, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.di.lɛk.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 31135, this pair ranks #305,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prédiction vs prédilection

Shared letters: cdinoprté. Private to "prédiction": -. Private to "prédilection": el.

"prédiction" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC  ·  "prédilection" · 12 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "prédiction" and "prédilection" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pʁe.dik.sjɔ̃\ versus \pʁe.di.lɛk.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "prédiction" vs "prédilection" - which ranks higher?
"prédilection" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,844 in our French list, against #18,291 for "prédiction". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "prédiction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prédilection" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prédiction" and "prédilection" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prédation vs prédiction". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #305,737 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