enfouirvsenfuirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,770
“enfouir” frequency rank
#11,212
“enfuir” frequency rank
52982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enfouir enfuir
Definition Enterrer dans un trou creusé à cet effet et le recouvrir une fois mis en terre. (Factitif) (Utilisé uniquement dans faire enfuir) Échapper rapidement quelque part.

Where the eye mixes enfouir and enfuir

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

7 ch
enfouir
6 ch
enfuir

Why the eye confuses enfouir with enfuir

A purely visual mix-up. enfouir (\ɑ̃.fwiʁ\) and enfuir (\ɑ̃.fɥiʁ\) 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 52982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enfouir is recorded at frequency rank #41,770, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fwiʁ\. enfuir is at rank #11,212, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɥiʁ\.

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 52982, this pair ranks #143,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enfouir vs enfuir

Shared letters: efinru. Private to "enfouir": o. Private to "enfuir": -.

"enfouir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC  ·  "enfuir" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enfouir ← efnouir · enffouir · enfoiur · enfouirr · enfouri · enfuoir · ennfouir · enofuir
  • enfuir ← efnuir · enffuir · enfiur · enfuirr · enfuri · ennfuir · enufir · nefuir

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enfouir" and "enfuir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.fwiʁ\ versus \ɑ̃.fɥiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "enfouir" vs "enfuir" - which ranks higher?
"enfuir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,212 in our French list, against #41,770 for "enfouir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "enfouir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enfuir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #143,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enfouir" and "enfuir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encourir vs enfouir". 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 #143,917 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