entice vs entire, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“entice” is a verb and “entire” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,825
“entice” frequency rank: #849
“entire” frequency rank: 24674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	entice	entire
Definition	To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope.	Whole; complete.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entice and entire apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

entice

6 ch

entire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entice is /ɪnˈtaɪs/ while entire is /ɪnˈtaɪə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “entice” becomes r in “entire”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entice is recorded at frequency rank #23,825, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtaɪs/. entire is at rank #849, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtaɪə/.

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 24674, this pair ranks #400,234 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of entice vs entire

Shared letters: eint. Private to "entice": c. Private to "entire": r.

"entice" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "entire" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

entice ← enitce · enntice · entcie · enticce · entiec · enttice · etnice · netice
entire ← enitre · enntire · entier · entirre · entrie · enttire · etnire · netire

Frequency comparison

entice#23,825

entire#849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entice" and "entire" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entice" is a verb and "entire" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "entice" or "entire"?

"entire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #849 in our English list, against #23,825 for "entice". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering entice vs entire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “entice”; for an adjective, it's “entire”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “entice” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable