énerver

\e.nɛʁ.ve\

/\e.nɛʁ.ve\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“énerver” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #10,619 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#10,619
frequency rank, French
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Agacer en produisant une irritation nerveuse.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

énerver vs entrer
57% similar
énerver vs enlever
57% similar
énerver vs exercer
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for énerver
PropertyValue
Headwordénerver
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\e.nɛʁ.ve\
Letters7
Frequency rank#10,619
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “énerver” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). énerver lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for énerver is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \e.nɛʁ.ve\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,619 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for énerver, with forms such as "enerver", "néerver", and "éenrver". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "entrer", "enlever", "exercer", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is énerver, spelled É-N-E-R-V-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Agacer en produisant une irritation nerveuse.
  2. 2
    Affaiblir en endommageant le système nerveux.
  3. 3
    Amollir, efféminer.
  4. 4
    Défaire de son élasticité une chose.
  5. 5
    Rendre le style, le langage faible et lâche.
  6. 6
    Ôter leur force à l’autorité, la religion, les lois.
  7. 7
    Priver de l’usage des nerfs en brûlant ou en coupant les tendons des muscles des jarrets.
  8. 8
    Enlever les tendons des muscles de la lèvre supérieure d'un cheval.
  9. 9
    Être dans une agitation nerveuse qui va en s’augmentant.

Synonyms

capotercouler une biellechier une pendulecraquer son slipcrier au meurtrecriserdisjoncteren faire six caissesen faire toute une histoireen faire tout un fromageen faire tout un cakeen faire tout un flanen faire un platfaire un caca moufaire un caca nerveuxfondre les plombsfondre un plombmonter dans les toursperdre ses nerfsperdre son calmeperdre son sang froidpéter les plombspéter un câblepéter un fusiblepéter un plombpéter une cochepéter une duritepiquer une crisepogner les nerfssauter une cochese fâchersortir de ses gonds

This word in other languages

fly off the handle(English)enojarse(Español)ärgern(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: enerver,néerver,éenrver,énerevr,énerrver,énerverr,énervre,énervver,énevrer,énnerver,énrever

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of énerver - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

enerver1néerver2éenrver2énerevr2énerrver1énerverr1énervre2énervver1
Edit distance from "énerver"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "énerver"?
"énerver" is spelled É-N-E-R-V-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.nɛʁ.ve\.
What does "énerver" mean?
As a verb, "énerver" means: Agacer en produisant une irritation nerveuse.
What words are commonly confused with "énerver"?
"énerver" is commonly confused with "entrer", "enlever", "exercer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "énerver"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "énerver" is \e.nɛʁ.ve\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "énerver" come from?
"énerver" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “énerver”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is É-N-E-R-V-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \e.nɛʁ.ve\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “entrer” - see the side-by-side comparison. énerver vs entrer
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list