eminencevseminentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eminence is a noun, eminent is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eminence” is a noun and “eminent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,070
“eminence” frequency rank
#13,708
“eminent” frequency rank
35778
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eminence eminent
Definition Someone of high rank, reputation or social status. Noteworthy, remarkable, great.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eminence and eminent apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
eminence
7 ch
eminent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eminence is /ˈɛmɪnəns/ while eminent is /ˈɛmɪnənt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eminence is recorded at frequency rank #22,070, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛmɪnəns/. eminent is at rank #13,708, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛmɪnənt/.

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 35778, this pair ranks #309,013 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eminence vs eminent

Shared letters: eimn. Private to "eminence": c. Private to "eminent": t.

"eminence" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV  ·  "eminent" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eminenceeimnence · emiennce · eminance · eminecne · eminencce · eminenec · eminennce · eminnece
  • eminenteimnent · emiennt · eminennt · eminentt · eminetn · eminnent · eminnet · emminent

Frequency comparison

eminence#22,070
eminent#13,708

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eminence" and "eminent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eminence" is a noun and "eminent" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eminence" or "eminent"?
"eminent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,708 in our English list, against #22,070 for "eminence". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eminence vs eminent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “eminence”; for an adjective, it's “eminent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eminence” 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