Which to use
“imitations” and “irritations” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,004
- “imitations” frequency rank
- #49,168
- “irritations” frequency rank
- 81172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imitations | irritations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de imitation. | Pluriel de irritation. |
Where the eye mixes imitations and irritations
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. imitations runs 10 letters (VCVCVCVVCC) against irritations's 11 (VCCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between imitations and irritations
A purely visual mix-up. imitations (\i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\) and irritations (\i.ʁi.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 81172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imitations is recorded at frequency rank #32,004, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\. irritations is at rank #49,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.ʁi.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 81172, this pair ranks #19,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of imitations vs irritations
Shared letters: ainost. Private to "imitations": m. Private to "irritations": r.
"imitations" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVVCC · "irritations" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- imitations ← iimtations · imiattions · imitaitons · imitatinos · imitationns · imitationss · imitatiosn · imitatoins
- irritations ← irirtations · iritations · irriattions · irritaitons · irritatinos · irritationns · irritationss · irritatiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "imitations" and "irritations" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "imitations" or "irritations" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "imitations" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irritations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imitations" and "irritations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitations vs initiations". 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 #19,329 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.