Which to use
“enema” and “enemy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,871
- “enema” frequency rank
- #2,038
- “enemy” frequency rank
- 36909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enema | enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An injection of fluid into the large intestine by way of the rectum, usually for medical purposes. | Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else. |
Where the eye mixes enema and enemy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. enema and enemy follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses enema with enemy
A purely visual mix-up. enema (/ˈɛn.ə.mə/) 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 differ by a single letter - a in “enema” becomes y in “enemy”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enema is recorded at frequency rank #34,871, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛn.ə.mə/. 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 36909, this pair ranks #299,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enema vs enemy
Shared letters: emn. Private to "enema": a. Private to "enemy": y.
"enema" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "enemy" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "enema" and "enemy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "enema" vs "enemy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enema" 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 #299,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enema" and "enemy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EEA vs enema". 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 #299,056 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.