Which to use
“ennui” is a noun and “ennuies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,686
- “ennui” frequency rank
- #35,019
- “ennuies” frequency rank
- 42705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ennui | ennuies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lassitude, langueur temporaire causée par une occupation dépourvue d’intérêt, monotone, déplaisante ou trop prolongée, ou par le désœuvrement. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de ennuyer. |
Same sound, different letters: ennui vs ennuies
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. ennui runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against ennuies's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - ennui and ennuies
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ennui and ennuies carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɑ̃.nɥi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ennui” sits inside “ennuies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ennui is recorded at frequency rank #7,686, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi\. ennuies is at rank #35,019, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi\.
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 42705, this pair ranks #223,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ennui vs ennuies
Shared letters: einu. Private to "ennui": -. Private to "ennuies": s.
"ennui" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "ennuies" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ennui" and "ennuies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ennui" vs "ennuies" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"ennui" and "ennuies" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "ennui" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ennuies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ennui" and "ennuies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ennuies vs ennuyée". 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 #223,584 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.