Which to use
“indemnify” is a verb and “indemnity” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,543
- “indemnify” frequency rank
- #31,221
- “indemnity” frequency rank
- 77764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indemnify | indemnity |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To secure against loss or damage; to insure. | Security from damage, loss, or penalty. |
Where the eye mixes indemnify and indemnity
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses indemnify with indemnity
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indemnify is /ɪnˈdɛm.nɪ.faɪ/ while indemnity is /ɪnˈdɛmnɪti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - f in “indemnify” becomes t in “indemnity”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indemnify is recorded at frequency rank #46,543, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈdɛm.nɪ.faɪ/. indemnity is at rank #31,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈdɛmnɪti/.
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 77764, this pair ranks #26,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of indemnify vs indemnity
Shared letters: deimny. Private to "indemnify": f. Private to "indemnity": t.
"indemnify" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "indemnity" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indemnify" for "indemnity" ever safe?
Frequency check: "indemnify" vs "indemnity" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "indemnify" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "indemnity" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indemnify" and "indemnity" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indemnity vs indignity". 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 #26,334 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.