égayervsenrayerTell them apart

Which to use

“égayer” and “enrayer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,246
“égayer” frequency rank
#22,845
“enrayer” frequency rank
55091
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature égayer enrayer
Definition Rendre gai. Arrêter une roue par les rais, ou au moyen d’un sabot, d’un frein ou d’une chaîne, en sorte qu’elle ne tourne point et qu’elle ne fasse que glisser.

Where the eye mixes égayer and enrayer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. égayer runs 6 letters (VCVVVC) against enrayer's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
égayer
7 ch
enrayer

Look-alike desk: égayer vs enrayer

A purely visual mix-up. égayer (\e.ɡɛ.je\) and enrayer (\ɑ̃.ʁɛ.je\) 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 55091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

égayer is recorded at frequency rank #32,246, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ɡɛ.je\. enrayer is at rank #22,845, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ʁɛ.je\.

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 55091, this pair ranks #129,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of égayer vs enrayer

Shared letters: aery. Private to "égayer": . Private to "enrayer": n.

"égayer" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC  ·  "enrayer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enrayerenaryer · ennrayer · enraeyr · enrayerr · enrayre · enrayyer · enrrayer · enryaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "égayer" and "enrayer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.ɡɛ.je\ versus \ɑ̃.ʁɛ.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "égayer" vs "enrayer" - which ranks higher?
"enrayer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,845 in our French list, against #32,246 for "égayer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "égayer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enrayer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #129,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "égayer" and "enrayer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "égayer vs étayée". 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 #129,752 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list