Which to use
“irrigate” and “irritate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,298
- “irrigate” frequency rank
- #26,132
- “irritate” frequency rank
- 74430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irrigate | irritate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To supply (farmland) with water, by building ditches, pipes, etc. | To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set irrigate and irritate apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. irrigate (/ˈɪɹəˌɡeɪt/) and irritate (/ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/) 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 - g in “irrigate” becomes t in “irritate”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irrigate is recorded at frequency rank #48,298, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɪɹəˌɡeɪt/. irritate is at rank #26,132, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/.
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 74430, this pair ranks #36,348 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of irrigate vs irritate
Shared letters: aeirt. Private to "irrigate": g. Private to "irritate": -.
"irrigate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "irritate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "irrigate" and "irritate" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "irrigate" or "irritate"?
Remembering irrigate vs irritate
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “irrigate” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable