Which to use
“intoxicating” is an adjective and “intoxication” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,102
- “intoxicating” frequency rank
- #24,800
- “intoxication” frequency rank
- 54902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intoxicating | intoxication |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Able to intoxicate; an intoxicant. | A poisoning, as by a spirituous or a narcotic substance. |
Letter map: intoxicating vs intoxication
Shared letters muted; letters that set intoxicating and intoxication apart highlighted. Shared run: 11.
Part-of-speech tell for intoxicating / intoxication
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: intoxicating is anadjective and intoxicationanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intoxicating is recorded at frequency rank #30,102, classified as anadj. intoxication is at rank #24,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪntɑksɪˈkeɪʃən/.
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 54902, this pair ranks #137,601 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intoxicating vs intoxication
Shared letters: acinotx. Private to "intoxicating": g. Private to "intoxication": -.
"intoxicating" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVCC · "intoxication" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intoxicating ← inntoxicating · inotxicating · intoixcating · intoxciating · intoxiacting · intoxicaitng · intoxicatign · intoxicatingg
- intoxication ← inntoxication · inotxication · intoixcation · intoxciation · intoxiaction · intoxicaiton · intoxicasion · intoxicatino
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intoxicating" and "intoxication" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "intoxicating" vs "intoxication" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "intoxicating" and "intoxication".
- Full dictionary entry for "intoxicating" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intoxication" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #137,601 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #137,601 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.