Which to use
“incite” and “invite” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,791
- “incite” frequency rank
- #4,311
- “invite” frequency rank
- 29102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incite | invite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To call into action. | To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something. |
Where the eye mixes incite and invite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. incite and invite follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: incite vs invite
A purely visual mix-up. incite (/ɪnˈsaɪt/) and invite (/ɪnˈvaɪt/) 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 a single letter - c in “incite” becomes v in “invite”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incite is recorded at frequency rank #24,791, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈsaɪt/. invite is at rank #4,311, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈvaɪt/.
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 29102, this pair ranks #365,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of incite vs invite
Shared letters: eint. Private to "incite": c. Private to "invite": v.
"incite" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "invite" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "incite" for "invite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "incite" vs "invite" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "incite" and "invite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "incite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incite" and "invite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ince vs incite". 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 #365,792 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.