Which to use
“imitation” and “invitation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,981
- “imitation” frequency rank
- #4,867
- “invitation” frequency rank
- 16848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imitation | invitation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’imiter ou résultat de cette action. | Action d’inviter. |
Where the eye mixes imitation and invitation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. imitation runs 9 letters (VCVCVCVVC) against invitation's 10 (VCCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between imitation and invitation
A purely visual mix-up. imitation (\i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\) and invitation (\ɛ̃.vi.ta.sjɔ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imitation is recorded at frequency rank #11,981, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\. invitation is at rank #4,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.vi.ta.sjɔ̃\.
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 16848, this pair ranks #385,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of imitation vs invitation
Shared letters: ainot. Private to "imitation": m. Private to "invitation": v.
"imitation" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC · "invitation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- imitation ← iimtation · imiattion · imitaiton · imitatino · imitationn · imitatoin · imitattion · imittaion
- invitation ← inivtation · innvitation · inviattion · invitaiton · invitatino · invitationn · invitatoin · invitattion
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "imitation" for "invitation" ever safe?
Which is more common, "imitation" or "invitation"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "imitation" and "invitation" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "imitation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invitation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imitation" and "invitation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitation vs imputation". 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 #385,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.