Which to use
“enemy” and “energy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,038
- “enemy” frequency rank
- #584
- “energy” frequency rank
- 2622
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enemy | energy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else. | The impetus behind all motion and all activity. |
Where the eye mixes enemy and energy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. enemy runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against energy's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between enemy and energy
A purely visual mix-up. enemy (/ˈɛn.ə.mi/) and energy (/ˈɛn.ə.d͡ʒi/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enemy is recorded at frequency rank #2,038, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛn.ə.mi/. energy is at rank #584, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛn.ə.d͡ʒi/.
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 2622, this pair ranks #524,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enemy vs energy
Shared letters: eny. Private to "enemy": m. Private to "energy": gr.
"enemy" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "energy" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enemy" and "energy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "enemy" or "energy"?
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 "enemy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "energy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #524,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enemy" and "energy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elegy vs enemy". 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 #524,498 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.