Have you ever typed decision and then stopped to wonder if descision might be the correct spelling? Decision or Descision is a common spelling question because the incorrect form can look surprisingly natural, especially when you hear the word pronounced rather than see it written.
Decision is the correct spelling, while descision is a common misspelling. The word decision refers to a choice or judgment made after thinking about different options. Unlike some spelling differences that depend on American or British English, decision is the standard spelling in both varieties of English.
Examples:
- She made the decision to accept the new job.
- It was a difficult decision to make.
The confusion is understandable. People often search for decision or descision, decision vs descision, which spelling is correct, or descision meaning in English because the extra s can seem reasonable when spelling the word. However, descision is not an accepted alternative spelling of decision. The correct form is decision, with one s after the i: decision.
In this guide, you’ll learn the complete difference between Decision or Descision, including the meaning, pronunciation, origin, correct spelling, and usage. You’ll also discover why descision is commonly misspelled and see clear examples to help you remember the correct spelling.
Decision or Descision: Which Is Correct?
Decision is the correct spelling.
Descision is an incorrect spelling and should not be used in standard English writing.
The difference is only one letter, but that extra s makes the second form incorrect.
| Word | Correct spelling? | Meaning |
| Decision | ✅ Yes | A choice, conclusion, or determination |
| Descision | ❌ No | Misspelling of decision |
For example:
- Correct: I made a difficult decision.
- Incorrect: I made a difficult descision.
The same rule applies in formal and informal writing. You should use decision in an email, essay, report, text message, résumé, presentation, or business document.
Cambridge defines decision as a choice made after thinking about several possibilities. It also lists common patterns such as make a decision, reach a decision, and come to a decision.
Why Is Decision the Correct Spelling?
The spelling decision comes from a long-established English word family that includes decide, decisive, and decisively.
The most useful connection to remember is:
decide → decision
The verb decide means to make a final choice or judgment. Decision names the choice or judgment that results from that process. Merriam-Webster defines decide as making a final choice or judgment and also traces it back through Middle French and Latin.
Consider this pair:
- I need to decide what to buy.
- I need to make a decision about what to buy.
The words are closely related, but they perform different grammatical jobs.
The spelling becomes easier to remember when you keep that relationship in mind. You don’t need to invent a separate spelling for decision. Think about the word decide first.
The spelling pattern
Look at these related words:
- decide
- decision
- decisive
- decisively
- decisiveness
They all preserve the decis- spelling.
That’s why descision doesn’t fit the word family. The extra s breaks the established spelling pattern.
What Does Decision Mean?
Decision is a noun with several closely related meanings.
At its most basic level, a decision is a choice made after considering different possibilities. You might decide what to eat for dinner, where to live, which job to accept, or how to solve a problem.
For example:
She made the decision to accept the new position.
Here, decision refers to the choice she made after considering her options.
Merriam-Webster gives several related senses. It defines decision as the act or process of deciding, a determination reached after consideration, and a judicial determination. It also recognizes a written report containing such a conclusion.
Decision as a personal choice
This is probably the most common everyday use.
Moving to another city was a major decision.
The person considered different possibilities and eventually chose one.
Decision as a conclusion
A decision can also mean a conclusion reached after examining information.
After reviewing the evidence, the committee reached a decision.
Here, the word doesn’t simply describe a casual preference. It describes a conclusion based on thought or evaluation.
Decision in law
The word also has a formal legal meaning.
A court can issue a decision after considering the facts and applicable law.
For example:
The court announced its decision on Monday.
In this context, decision means an authoritative determination rather than an ordinary personal choice. Merriam-Webster specifically recognizes this judicial sense.
Decision in sports
The word has another established use in sports such as boxing and other combat sports.
A fighter can win by decision when judges award the match based on points rather than a knockout. Cambridge gives this sporting sense as a separate use of the noun.
For example:
The boxer won by unanimous decision.
That doesn’t mean the boxer simply made a choice. Instead, the judges determined the winner based on the scoring.
What Does Descision Mean?
Descision does not function as the standard spelling of an English word.
When someone writes descision, they almost always mean decision.
For example:
❌ The manager made a descision yesterday.
The intended sentence is:
✅ The manager made a decision yesterday.
This distinction matters because a misspelling can look plausible without actually being an accepted spelling. English contains many words in which an s appears near a c, so the incorrect form can feel familiar even though it isn’t standard.
If a spell checker underlines descision, replace it with decision.
Decision Examples in Sentences
Seeing the word in different settings makes its meaning and spelling easier to recognize.
Everyday examples
- I need to make a decision before Friday.
- She made the right decision.
- That was a difficult decision.
- We haven’t reached a decision yet.
- His decision surprised everyone.
- You don’t have to make the decision today.
School examples
- The student made the decision to change her major.
- Choosing a research topic was a difficult decision.
- The teacher explained why the committee’s decision had changed.
Workplace examples
- The board will announce its decision tomorrow.
- Hiring another employee was an expensive decision.
- The manager based the decision on sales data.
- We need a final decision before the project can begin.
Personal-life examples
- Leaving the city was a major decision.
- He regretted his decision to sell the house.
- Her decision to study abroad changed her career.
- Sometimes the hardest decision is knowing when to wait.
Legal examples
- The judge issued a written decision.
- The court’s decision affected the case.
- The attorneys were waiting for the decision.
Notice how the word keeps the same spelling in every context. Its meaning changes slightly depending on the situation, but decision remains the correct form.
Decision or Descision in a Sentence
The easiest way to spot the difference is to compare the incorrect and correct versions side by side.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| I made a descision yesterday. | I made a decision yesterday. |
| The final descision is yours. | The final decision is yours. |
| We are waiting for their descision. | We are waiting for their decision. |
| She regretted her descision. | She regretted her decision. |
| The board announced its descision. | The board announced its decision. |
The mistake doesn’t change the intended meaning. It simply makes the spelling incorrect.
A useful correction exercise
Try mentally correcting this sentence:
The committee reached a descision after three hours of discussion.
The corrected version is:
The committee reached a decision after three hours of discussion.
The easiest memory cue is to connect decision with decide.
Common Phrases With Decision
Certain word combinations appear so frequently that learning them can help reinforce the correct spelling.
Make a decision
This is one of the most common expressions.
We need to make a decision soon.
You can also use:
She finally made a decision.
Reach a decision
This phrase emphasizes arriving at a conclusion.
The committee will reach a decision after reviewing the evidence.
Come to a decision
This expression often suggests discussion or careful thought.
After several meetings, the team came to a decision.
Make a final decision
This phrase emphasizes that no further choice is expected.
The director will make the final decision tomorrow.
Difficult decision
Use this phrase when the available choices are challenging.
Leaving the company was a difficult decision.
Informed decision
An informed decision is based on relevant information rather than guesswork.
Consumers should have enough information to make an informed decision.
Important decision
Use this when the choice has significant consequences.
Choosing a career can be an important decision.
Decision-making
Decision-making refers to the process of making choices or reaching conclusions.
Strong decision-making skills can help managers handle complex situations.
These expressions are useful because they repeatedly expose you to the correct spelling.
Decision vs Decide
One of the best ways to understand decision is to compare it with decide.
Decide is a verb.
Decision is a noun.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning | Example |
| Decide | Verb | To make a choice or judgment | We need to decide today. |
| Decision | Noun | A choice or conclusion | We need to make a decision today. |
Consider another pair:
She decided to move.
Her decision to move surprised everyone.
The first sentence describes the action of choosing. The second names the choice itself.
Merriam-Webster explains that decide can mean making a final choice or selecting a course of action.
Don’t confuse decide and decision
A common grammatical error is using decision where the verb decide belongs.
Incorrect:
❌ I decision to stay.
Correct:
✅ I decided to stay.
Another common mistake is using decide after make.
Incorrect:
❌ I made a decide.
Correct:
✅ I made a decision.
The simple rule is:
You decide, but you make a decision.
Decision, Decisive, and Decisively
The decision word family contains several useful forms.
Decision
Decision is a noun.
The team made a decision.
Decide
Decide is a verb.
The team must decide today.
Decisive
Decisive is an adjective. It can describe someone who makes choices confidently or something that settles an issue.
She is a decisive leader.
It can also describe an action or event that determines an outcome:
The final goal was decisive.
Decisively
Decisively is an adverb.
The manager acted decisively during the crisis.
Decisiveness
Decisiveness is a noun referring to the quality of being decisive.
His decisiveness helped the team move forward.
Together, these words form a useful vocabulary family:
decide → decision → decisive → decisively → decisiveness
Learning them together can make spelling easier because you begin to recognize the shared decis- pattern.
How Do You Spell Decision?
The correct spelling is:
D-E-C-I-S-I-O-N
A useful way to divide it visually is:
de + cis + ion
The important part is cis, not scis.
That’s where descision goes wrong.
Correct spelling
decision
Incorrect spelling
descision
Another common misspelling
decission is also incorrect.
The standard spelling has one s:
decision
It does not contain two consecutive s letters.
How Do You Pronounce Decision?
In US English, decision is pronounced approximately:
/dɪˈsɪʒən/
Cambridge gives the US pronunciation as /dɪˈsɪʒ.ən/ and places the main stress on the second syllable.
It sounds roughly like:
di-SIZH-un
The middle sound can cause spelling confusion because the s in decision is pronounced with a /z/ sound in the word’s usual pronunciation, while the -sion ending produces the sound represented by /ʒ/.
That pronunciation doesn’t make the spelling obvious.
This is an important point: English spelling doesn’t always map perfectly onto pronunciation. Hearing a word correctly doesn’t necessarily tell you every letter you need to write.
Why Do People Spell Decision as Descision?
The mistake has a few understandable causes.
Pronunciation creates uncertainty
When people hear decision, they don’t hear each letter individually. The spoken word flows together.
The pronunciation is roughly:
di-SIZH-un
Nothing about that sound clearly tells a writer that the spelling begins with deci- rather than desci-.
The extra s feels visually plausible
English contains plenty of words with sc combinations:
- science
- scissors
- scene
- scope
- school
Because sc is common in English, descision can look believable at first glance.
But visual familiarity doesn’t make a spelling correct.
The word family isn’t always obvious
If you remember decision as an isolated word, the spelling may be harder to recall.
If you connect it with decide, the pattern becomes much clearer:
decide → decision
That connection provides a useful mental anchor.
Fast typing can cause the mistake
Spelling errors don’t always come from a lack of knowledge. Sometimes your fingers simply move faster than your proofreading.
A person who knows perfectly well that decision is correct might still type descision while writing quickly.
That’s why proofreading remains useful even when you have strong spelling skills.
Decision or Descision: Common Spelling Mistakes
Decision has a few common misspellings. The most relevant ones include:
| Spelling | Status |
| decision | ✅ Correct |
| descision | ❌ Incorrect |
| decission | ❌ Incorrect |
| desicion | ❌ Incorrect |
| decison | ❌ Incorrect |
The exact error may vary, but the solution stays the same: decision.
Why decission is wrong
Some people add an extra s because the word’s pronunciation includes a strong s-like sound.
However, the correct written form is:
decision
not:
decission
Why desicion is wrong
Another mistake involves removing the c:
❌ desicion
The correct spelling keeps the c:
✅ decision
The safest approach is to remember the word as part of its family rather than trying to reconstruct it from pronunciation.
How to Remember the Correct Spelling of Decision
A good spelling trick should be short enough to remember when you’re writing quickly.
The most useful one is:
Decide → decision
Think about the shared deci- beginning.
You can also remember:
You decide, then make a decision.
For example:
I decide what to do.
I make a decision about what to do.
This gives you both the spelling and the grammar at the same time.
Another simple memory method
Picture the word in two parts:
DECI + SION
Then compare it with the incorrect form:
DESCI + SION ❌
The extra s has nowhere to belong.
Decision-Making: How Is It Spelled?
The related expression decision-making is also worth knowing.
When decision-making functions as a compound modifier, the hyphen commonly helps connect the two words:
The company needs better decision-making processes.
The phrase refers to the process of making decisions.
You may also encounter decision making in contexts where style conventions differ. However, the hyphenated form is especially useful when the compound functions as a modifier before another noun.
Examples include:
- decision-making skills
- decision-making process
- decision-making authority
- decision-making framework
- decision-making ability
The key point is that the first word remains decision, not descision.
The History Behind the Word Decision
The spelling of decision becomes more logical when you look at its history.
Merriam-Webster traces the noun to Middle English decisioun, borrowed from Anglo-French decision. The French form ultimately comes from Latin dēcīsiō, connected with dēcīdere. The Latin root carried the idea of cutting off, settling, or bringing something to a conclusion.
That history connects neatly with the modern meaning.
When you make a decision, you effectively settle one possibility over others.
Imagine standing in front of two roads. Until you choose, both remain open. Once you choose one route, you’ve settled the question.
That’s the basic idea behind the modern word.
Merriam-Webster records the noun’s first known use in English in the 15th century, showing that decision has been established in English for hundreds of years.
Decision in Formal and Everyday Writing
One reason decision appears so often is that it works naturally in many levels of English.
In casual conversation, you might say:
I haven’t made a decision yet.
In professional writing:
The committee will announce its decision after reviewing the proposals.
In academic writing:
Several factors influenced the participants’ decision.
In legal writing:
The court issued its decision after considering the evidence.
The spelling never changes.
What changes is the context and level of formality.
Everyday decision
We need to make a decision about dinner.
Professional decision
The management team reached a decision after reviewing the financial report.
Academic decision
The researchers examined the factors that influenced the participants’ decision.
Legal decision
The court’s decision established an important precedent.
This flexibility makes decision one of the most useful nouns in everyday English.
Decision vs Descision: A Practical Editing Case Study
Consider a short workplace email:
We have reviewed all the proposals and reached a descision. The descision will be shared with the team tomorrow.
The writer has used the same spelling error twice.
A simple correction produces:
We have reviewed all the proposals and reached a decision. The decision will be shared with the team tomorrow.
The problem isn’t grammar or meaning. It’s spelling.
Now consider a second example:
After thinking about the offer, Maria decided to accept it. Her decision surprised her colleagues.
This version uses both decided and decision correctly.
The connection is easy to see:
decided → decision
That is exactly the relationship worth remembering.
Quick Comparison: Decision or Descision
| Feature | Decision | Descision |
| Standard English word | Yes | No |
| Correct spelling | Yes | No |
| Part of speech | Noun | Misspelling |
| Basic meaning | Choice or conclusion | No standard meaning |
| Related verb | Decide | None |
| Related adjective | Decisive | None |
| Correct example | She made a decision. | ❌ She made a descision. |
| Plural | Decisions | Not applicable |
The answer is straightforward: decision is the only standard spelling of the word.
Decision Synonyms
Depending on the context, several words can express an idea similar to decision.
Merriam-Webster’s thesaurus lists words such as choice, conclusion, determination, judgment, verdict, resolution, ruling, and opinion among related terms.
However, these words aren’t interchangeable in every sentence.
Choice
A choice usually emphasizes selecting between possibilities.
You have a choice between the two plans.
Decision
A decision often emphasizes the act or result of settling the matter.
We finally made a decision.
Conclusion
A conclusion emphasizes what someone reaches after considering information.
The investigation led to a clear conclusion.
Judgment
Judgment can emphasize evaluation or reasoning.
She showed excellent judgment during the crisis.
Verdict
A verdict is especially associated with a formal legal judgment.
The jury returned its verdict.
Determination
Determination can refer to a firm conclusion or a person’s resolve.
His determination helped him continue.
Choosing the right synonym depends on the context, but none of these changes the spelling of decision itself.
What Is the Plural of Decision?
The plural of decision is decisions.
Simply add s:
decision → decisions
Examples:
- The committee made several decisions.
- Important decisions require careful thought.
- Her career involved making difficult decisions.
- The judges announced their decisions.
Don’t confuse the plural with the incorrect spelling decissions.
The correct form is:
decisions
There is only one s before the ending.
Is Decision Always About Choosing?
Not necessarily.
Although everyday use often involves choosing between alternatives, decision can also describe a formal conclusion, judgment, or determination.
For example:
The court’s decision was released on Friday.
Nobody is talking about choosing ice cream or selecting a movie. The word describes a formal legal determination.
Likewise, in sports:
The fighter won by decision.
Here, the word refers to a result determined by judges.
So, while choice is a central meaning, the word has a wider range of established uses.
Common Grammar Patterns With Decision
Learning the grammar patterns around decision can help you use the word naturally.
Decision + to-infinitive
It was her decision to leave.
His decision to study abroad changed his career.
Decision + about
We need to make a decision about the budget.
Decision + on
The board reached a decision on the proposal.
Make + decision
They made a decision after several meetings.
Reach + decision
The committee reached a decision yesterday.
Come to + decision
We eventually came to a decision.
These patterns appear frequently in natural English, so learning them gives you more than spelling knowledge. It helps you build accurate sentences.
Frequently Asked Questions About Decision or Descision
Is decision or descision correct?
Decision is correct. Descision is a misspelling.
Is descision a word?
Descision isn’t the standard English spelling of the word. If you mean a choice, conclusion, or determination, use decision.
How do you spell decision correctly?
The correct spelling is D-E-C-I-S-I-O-N.
A useful memory trick is:
decide → decision
Why do people spell decision as descision?
The error probably comes from the relationship between pronunciation and spelling. The spoken word doesn’t make every letter obvious, and the extra s can seem visually plausible.
Is decission correct?
No. Decission is also a misspelling. The correct form is decision, with only one s.
What is the difference between decide and decision?
Decide is a verb. Decision is a noun.
I need to decide soon.
I need to make a decision soon.
What is the plural of decision?
The plural is decisions.
The manager made several decisions.
What does decision mean?
A decision is a choice, conclusion, or determination reached after considering something. It can also refer to a formal judgment, such as a court’s decision.
How do you pronounce decision?
In US English, decision is pronounced /dɪˈsɪʒən/, with the main stress on the second syllable.
Is decision a noun or verb?
In its common use, decision is a noun.
The related verb is decide.
Is decision-making hyphenated?
Decision-making is commonly hyphenated when the compound functions as a modifier, as in decision-making skills or decision-making process.
Final Takeaway: Decision or Descision?
When you’re stuck between decision or descision, the answer is simple: decision is correct.
Descision is a misspelling and should be replaced with decision in standard English writing.
The word decision means a choice, conclusion, determination, or formal judgment. You can make a decision, reach a decision, come to a decision, or regret a decision. Its related verb is decide, which gives you the easiest spelling clue:
decide → decision
Remember that pattern and the extra s in descision becomes much easier to avoid.
For a quick reference:
- ✅ decision
- ❌ descision
- ❌ decission
- ❌ desicion
- Plural: decisions
- Related verb: decide
- Related adjective: decisive
- US pronunciation: /dɪˈsɪʒən/
When in doubt, don’t try to spell the word purely from how it sounds. Go back to its word family. Decide, decision, decisive all point you toward the correct spelling.
