Which to use
“indication” and “invitation” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,482
- “indication” frequency rank
- #5,700
- “invitation” frequency rank
- 12182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indication | invitation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An act of pointing out or indicating. | The act of inviting; solicitation; the requesting of a person's company. |
Where the eye mixes indication and invitation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between indication and invitation
A purely visual mix-up. indication (/ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/) and invitation (/ɪn.vɪˈteɪ.ʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indication is recorded at frequency rank #6,482, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/. invitation is at rank #5,700, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪn.vɪˈteɪ.ʃən/.
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 12182, this pair ranks #482,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of indication vs invitation
Shared letters: ainot. Private to "indication": cd. Private to "invitation": v.
"indication" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC · "invitation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- indication ← idnication · indciation · inddication · indiaction · indicaiton · indicasion · indicatino · indicationn
- invitation ← inivtation · innvitation · inviattion · invitaiton · invitasion · invitatino · invitationn · invitatoin
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indication" for "invitation" ever safe?
Frequency check: "indication" vs "invitation" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "indication" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invitation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #482,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indication" and "invitation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indication vs invocation". 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 #482,990 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.