Which to use
“enemy” and “entry” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,038
- “enemy” frequency rank
- #2,152
- “entry” frequency rank
- 4190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enemy | entry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else. | The act of entering. |
Where the eye mixes enemy and entry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses enemy with entry
A purely visual mix-up. enemy (/ˈɛn.ə.mi/) and entry (/ˈɛntɹi/) 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 4190, 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/. entry is at rank #2,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛntɹi/.
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 4190, this pair ranks #519,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enemy vs entry
Shared letters: eny. Private to "enemy": m. Private to "entry": rt.
"enemy" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "entry" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "enemy" for "entry" ever safe?
Which is more common, "enemy" or "entry"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "enemy" and "entry" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "enemy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "entry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #519,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enemy" and "entry" 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 #519,714 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.