Which to use
“invitation” and “invocation” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,700
- “invitation” frequency rank
- #32,451
- “invocation” frequency rank
- 38151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | invitation | invocation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of inviting; solicitation; the requesting of a person's company. | The act or form of calling for the assistance or presence of some superior being, especially prayer offered to a divine being. |
Where the eye mixes invitation and invocation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between invitation and invocation
A purely visual mix-up. invitation (/ɪn.vɪˈteɪ.ʃən/) and invocation (/ˌɪn.voʊˈkeɪ.ʃən/) 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 38151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
invitation is recorded at frequency rank #5,700, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪn.vɪˈteɪ.ʃən/. invocation is at rank #32,451, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌɪn.voʊˈkeɪ.ʃən/.
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 38151, this pair ranks #288,406 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of invitation vs invocation
Shared letters: ainotv. Private to "invitation": -. Private to "invocation": c.
"invitation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC · "invocation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- invitation ← inivtation · innvitation · inviattion · invitaiton · invitasion · invitatino · invitationn · invitatoin
- invocation ← innvocation · inovcation · invcoation · invoaction · invocaiton · invocasion · invocatino · invocationn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "invitation" and "invocation" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "invitation" or "invocation" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "invitation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invocation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,406 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "invitation" and "invocation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intonation vs invocation". 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 #288,406 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.