Which to use
“instance” and “instinct” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,681
- “instance” frequency rank
- #7,197
- “instinct” frequency rank
- 11878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instance | instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sollicitation pressante. | Mouvement intérieur qui est naturel aux animaux et qui les fait agir sans le secours de la réflexion pour accomplir des actes conformes à leur espèce et adaptés à leurs besoins. |
Where the eye mixes instance and instinct
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. instance (\ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\) and instinct (\ɛ̃s.tɛ̃\) 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 11878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instance is recorded at frequency rank #4,681, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\. instinct is at rank #7,197, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tɛ̃\.
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 11878, this pair ranks #407,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of instance vs instinct
Shared letters: cinst. Private to "instance": ae. Private to "instinct": -.
"instance" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV · "instinct" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "instance" and "instinct" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "instance" or "instinct"?
What to do next
You've compared "instance" and "instinct". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "instance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "instinct" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instance" and "instinct" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "instinct vs instinctif". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.