immensevsimmuneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“immense” and “immune” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,556
“immense” frequency rank
#5,691
“immune” frequency rank
14247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature immense immune
Definition Huge, gigantic, very large. Exempt; not subject to.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
immense
6 ch
immune

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. immense (/ɪˈmɛns/) and immune (/ɪˈmjuːn/) 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 14247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

immense is recorded at frequency rank #8,556, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪˈmɛns/. immune is at rank #5,691, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪˈmjuːn/.

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 14247, this pair ranks #471,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of immense vs immune

Shared letters: eimn. Private to "immense": s. Private to "immune": u.

"immense" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "immune" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • immenseimemnse · imense · immenes · immennse · immensse · immesne · immnese · mimense
  • immuneimmnue · immuen · immunne · imumne · imune · mimune

Frequency comparison

immense#8,556
immune#5,691

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "immense" and "immune" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɪˈmɛns/ versus /ɪˈmjuːn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "immense" or "immune"?
"immune" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,691 in our English list, against #8,556 for "immense". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering immense vs immune

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “immense” 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