Which to use
“instigation” and “institution” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,004
- “instigation” frequency rank
- #2,881
- “institution” frequency rank
- 38885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instigation | institution |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Incitation, suggestion, sollicitation pressante par laquelle on pousse quelqu’un à faire quelque chose. — Note d’usage : Il se prend le plus souvent en mauvaise part. | Action par laquelle on institue, on établit. |
Where the eye mixes instigation and institution
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between instigation and institution
A purely visual mix-up. instigation (\ɛ̃.sti.ɡa.sjɔ̃\) and institution (\ɛ̃s.ti.ty.sjɔ̃\) 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 38885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instigation is recorded at frequency rank #36,004, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.sti.ɡa.sjɔ̃\. institution is at rank #2,881, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.ti.ty.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 38885, this pair ranks #252,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of instigation vs institution
Shared letters: inost. Private to "instigation": ag. Private to "institution": u.
"instigation" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVVC · "institution" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- instigation ← innstigation · insitgation · insstigation · instgiation · instiagtion · instigaiton · instigatino · instigationn
- institution ← innstitution · insittution · insstitution · instittuion · instittution · instituiton · institutino · institutionn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "instigation" and "institution" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "instigation" or "institution"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "instigation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "institution" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instigation" and "institution" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "initiation vs instigation". 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 #252,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.