invitationsvsirritationsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,162
“invitations” frequency rank
#49,168
“irritations” frequency rank
65330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature invitations irritations
Definition Pluriel de invitation. Pluriel de irritation.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set invitations and irritations apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
invitations
11 ch
irritations

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. invitations (\ɛ̃.vi.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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

invitations is recorded at frequency rank #16,162, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.vi.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 65330, this pair ranks #72,858 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of invitations vs irritations

Shared letters: ainost. Private to "invitations": v. Private to "irritations": r.

"invitations" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVCC  ·  "irritations" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • invitationsinivtations · innvitations · inviattions · invitaitons · invitatinos · invitationns · invitationss · invitatiosn
  • irritationsirirtations · iritations · irriattions · irritaitons · irritatinos · irritationns · irritationss · irritatiosn

Frequency comparison

invitations#16,162
irritations#49,168

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "invitations" and "irritations" 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, "invitations" or "irritations"?
"invitations" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,162 in our French list, against #49,168 for "irritations". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering invitations vs irritations

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 “invitations” 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