Which to use
“énigme” is a noun and “enorme” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,087
- “énigme” frequency rank
- #19,006
- “enorme” frequency rank
- 31093
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | énigme | enorme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jeu d’esprit mettant à l’épreuve la réflexion de l’interlocuteur qui doit répondre à une interrogation dont le sens est caché sous une parabole ou une métaphore. | Accusatif féminin singulier de la déclinaison faible de enorm. |
Where the eye mixes énigme and enorme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: énigme vs enorme
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: énigme is \e.niɡm\ while enorme is \eˈnɔʁmə\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
énigme is recorded at frequency rank #12,087, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.niɡm\. enorme is at rank #19,006, tagged as anadj, pronounced \eˈnɔʁmə\.
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 31093, this pair ranks #306,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of énigme vs enorme
Shared letters: emn. Private to "énigme": gié. Private to "enorme": or.
"énigme" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "enorme" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- enorme ← ennorme · enomre · enorem · enormme · enorrme · enrome · eonrme · neorme
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "énigme" for "enorme" ever safe?
Frequency check: "énigme" vs "enorme" - which ranks higher?
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 "énigme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enorme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "énigme" and "enorme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Enora vs enorme". 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 #306,031 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.