concession and confession differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. concession means “a contract granting the right to operate a subsidiary business”. confession means “an admission of misdeeds or faults”. confession is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/kənˈsɛʃən/
1.n.a contract granting the right to operate a subsidiary business
“he got the beer concession at the ball park”
2.n.the act of conceding or yielding
3.n.a point conceded or yielded
“they won all the concessions they asked for”
/kənˈfɛʃən/
1.n.an admission of misdeeds or faults
2.n.a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty party
3.n.(Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution
| concession | confession | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /kənˈsɛʃən/ | /kənˈfɛʃən/ |
| Said | kuhn-SESH-uhn | kuhn-FESH-uhn |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| Letters | 10 | 10 |
| Parts of speech | noun | noun |
| Senses | 3 | 5 |
| How common | Familiar | Common |
| Synonyms | grant | none recorded |
Full entry for concession · Full entry for confession · More comparisons