Which to use
“ennuis” and “étuis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,150
- “ennuis” frequency rank
- #47,703
- “étuis” frequency rank
- 57853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ennuis | étuis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ennui. | Pluriel de étui. |
Where the eye mixes ennuis and étuis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ennuis runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against étuis's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ennuis and étuis
A purely visual mix-up. ennuis (\ɑ̃.nɥi\) and étuis (\e.tɥi\) 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 57853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ennuis is recorded at frequency rank #10,150, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi\. étuis is at rank #47,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɥi\.
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 57853, this pair ranks #112,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ennuis vs étuis
Shared letters: isu. Private to "ennuis": en. Private to "étuis": té.
"ennuis" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "étuis" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ennuis ← ennius · ennuiss · ennusi · enuis · enunis · nenuis
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ennuis" for "étuis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ennuis" vs "étuis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ennuis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étuis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ennuis" and "étuis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étuis". 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 #112,557 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.