invitationvsirritationWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“invitation” and “irritation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,867
“invitation” frequency rank
#25,021
“irritation” frequency rank
29888
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature invitation irritation
Definition Action d’inviter. Réaction inflammatoire locale, souvent douloureuse, affectant un tissu ou un organe exposé à un agent irritant (chimique, physique ou infectieux).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set invitation and irritation apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
invitation
10 ch
irritation

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. invitation (\ɛ̃.vi.ta.sjɔ̃\) and irritation (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

invitation is recorded at frequency rank #4,867, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.vi.ta.sjɔ̃\. irritation is at rank #25,021, 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 29888, this pair ranks #313,843 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of invitation vs irritation

Shared letters: ainot. Private to "invitation": v. Private to "irritation": r.

"invitation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC  ·  "irritation" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • invitationinivtation · innvitation · inviattion · invitaiton · invitatino · invitationn · invitatoin · invitattion
  • irritationirirtation · iritation · irriattion · irritaiton · irritatino · irritationn · irritatoin · irritattion

Frequency comparison

invitation#4,867
irritation#25,021

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "invitation" and "irritation" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.vi.ta.sjɔ̃\ versus \i.ʁi.ta.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "invitation" or "irritation"?
"invitation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,867 in our French list, against #25,021 for "irritation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering invitation vs irritation

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 “invitation” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list