Which to use
“instance” and “issuance” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,540
- “instance” frequency rank
- #18,598
- “issuance” frequency rank
- 21138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instance | issuance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence. | The act of issuing, or giving out. |
Where the eye mixes instance and issuance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses instance with issuance
A purely visual mix-up. instance (/ˈɪnstəns/) and issuance (/ˈɪʃ(j)uəns/) 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 21138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instance is recorded at frequency rank #2,540, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnstəns/. issuance is at rank #18,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪʃ(j)uəns/.
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 21138, this pair ranks #426,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of instance vs issuance
Shared letters: aceins. Private to "instance": t. Private to "issuance": u.
"instance" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV · "issuance" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "instance" and "issuance" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "instance" or "issuance" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "instance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "issuance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instance" and "issuance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insurance vs issuance". 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 #426,102 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.