emptyvsenmityWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: empty is a adjective, enmity is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,533
“empty” frequency rank
#28,530
“enmity” frequency rank
31063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empty enmity
Definition Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant. The quality of being an enemy; a hostile or unfriendly disposition.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set empty and enmity apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
empty
6 ch
enmity

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

empty and enmity form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empty is recorded at frequency rank #2,533, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛm(p).ti/. enmity is at rank #28,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛn.mɪ.ti/.

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 31063, this pair ranks #349,330 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

empty#2,533
enmity#28,530

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empty" and "enmity" be used interchangeably?
No, "empty" and "enmity" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering empty vs enmity

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “empty”; for a noun, it's “enmity”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “empty” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list