Which to use
“enfile” and “enfiler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,844
- “enfile” frequency rank
- #16,608
- “enfiler” frequency rank
- 39452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enfile | enfiler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de enfiler. | Traverser d’un fil par une ouverture pratiquée à cet effet. |
Where the eye mixes enfile and enfiler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: enfile vs enfiler
A purely visual mix-up. enfile (\ɑ̃.fil\) and enfiler (\ɑ̃.fi.le\) 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 extra letter(s) - “enfile” sits inside “enfiler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enfile is recorded at frequency rank #22,844, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fil\. enfiler is at rank #16,608, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fi.le\.
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 39452, this pair ranks #247,860 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enfile vs enfiler
Shared letters: efiln. Private to "enfile": -. Private to "enfiler": r.
"enfile" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "enfiler" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "enfile" for "enfiler" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "enfile" or "enfiler" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "enfile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enfiler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,860 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enfile" and "enfiler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enfilade vs enfile". 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 #247,860 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.