énervéevsenlevéeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,853
“énervée” frequency rank
#13,587
“enlevée” frequency rank
31440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature énervée enlevée
Definition Féminin singulier de énervé. Féminin singulier de enlevé.

Where the eye mixes énervée and enlevée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. énervée (VCVCCVV) and enlevée (VCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
énervée
7 ch
enlevée

Why the eye confuses énervée with enlevée

A purely visual mix-up. énervée (\e.nɛʁ.ve\) and enlevée (\ɑ̃.lə.ve\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

énervée is recorded at frequency rank #17,853, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ve\. enlevée is at rank #13,587, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.lə.ve\.

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 31440, this pair ranks #303,762 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of énervée vs enlevée

Shared letters: envé. Private to "énervée": r. Private to "enlevée": l.

"énervée" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV  ·  "enlevée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "énervée" and "enlevée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.nɛʁ.ve\ versus \ɑ̃.lə.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "énervée" or "enlevée"?
"enlevée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,587 in our French list, against #17,853 for "énervée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "énervée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enlevée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #303,762 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "énervée" and "enlevée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émergée vs énervée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #303,762 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