Which to use
“instigate” is a verb and “intimate” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,909
- “instigate” frequency rank
- #6,487
- “intimate” frequency rank
- 45396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instigate | intimate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bring about by urging or encouraging. | Closely acquainted; familiar. |
Where the eye mixes instigate and intimate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses instigate with intimate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: instigate is /ˈɪnstəɡeɪt/ while intimate is /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instigate is recorded at frequency rank #38,909, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɪnstəɡeɪt/. intimate is at rank #6,487, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/.
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 45396, this pair ranks #221,627 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of instigate vs intimate
Shared letters: aeint. Private to "instigate": gs. Private to "intimate": m.
"instigate" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV · "intimate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "instigate" and "intimate" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "instigate" or "intimate" show up more?
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 "instigate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intimate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #221,627 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instigate" and "intimate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "instigate vs instigator". 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 #221,627 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.