Which to use
“elegy” and “enemy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,101
- “elegy” frequency rank
- #2,038
- “enemy” frequency rank
- 43139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | elegy | enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A mournful or plaintive poem; a funeral song; a poem of lamentation. | Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else. |
Where the eye mixes elegy and enemy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between elegy and enemy
A purely visual mix-up. elegy (/ˈɛlɪd͡ʒi/) and enemy (/ˈɛn.ə.mi/) 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 43139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
elegy is recorded at frequency rank #41,101, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛlɪd͡ʒi/. enemy is at rank #2,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛn.ə.mi/.
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 43139, this pair ranks #242,810 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of elegy vs enemy
Shared letters: ey. Private to "elegy": gl. Private to "enemy": mn.
"elegy" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "enemy" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "elegy" and "enemy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "elegy" or "enemy"?
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 "elegy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enemy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,810 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "elegy" and "enemy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ele vs elegy". 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 #242,810 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.