inducevsinjureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“induce” and “injure” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,736
“induce” frequency rank
#20,392
“injure” frequency rank
34128
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature induce injure
Definition To lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon. To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set induce and injure apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
induce
6 ch
injure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. induce (/ɪnˈduːs/) and injure (/ˈɪn.d͡ʒɚ/) 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 34128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

induce is recorded at frequency rank #13,736, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈduːs/. injure is at rank #20,392, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɪn.d͡ʒɚ/.

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 34128, this pair ranks #323,427 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of induce vs injure

Shared letters: einu. Private to "induce": cd. Private to "injure": jr.

"induce" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "injure" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • induceidnuce · indcue · indduce · inducce · induec · innduce · inudce · niduce
  • injureijnure · injjure · injrue · injuer · injurre · innjure · inujre · nijure

Frequency comparison

induce#13,736
injure#20,392

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "induce" and "injure" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɪnˈduːs/ versus /ˈɪn.d͡ʒɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "induce" or "injure"?
"induce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,736 in our English list, against #20,392 for "injure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering induce vs injure

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “induce” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list