Which to use
“intention” and “invention” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,095
- “intention” frequency rank
- #6,699
- “invention” frequency rank
- 10794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intention | invention |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A course of action that a person intends to follow. | Something invented. |
Where the eye mixes intention and invention
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. intention and invention follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between intention and invention
A purely visual mix-up. intention (/ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/) and invention (/ɪnˈvɛnʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - t in “intention” becomes v in “invention”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intention is recorded at frequency rank #4,095, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/. invention is at rank #6,699, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/.
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 10794, this pair ranks #490,490 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intention vs invention
Shared letters: einot. Private to "intention": -. Private to "invention": v.
"intention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "invention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intention" for "invention" ever safe?
Which is more common, "intention" or "invention"?
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 "intention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invention" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #490,490 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intention" and "invention" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intention vs intonation". 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 #490,490 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.