Which to use
“ennuyer” is a verb and “ennuyeux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,374
- “ennuyer” frequency rank
- #14,032
- “ennuyeux” frequency rank
- 27406
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ennuyer | ennuyeux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Causer de l’ennui, fatiguer l’esprit par quelque chose d’insignifiant, de monotone, de déplaisant, ou de trop long. | Qui cause de l’ennui, de la lassitude. |
Where the eye mixes ennuyer and ennuyeux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ennuyer runs 7 letters (VCCVVVC) against ennuyeux's 8 (VCCVVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ennuyer with ennuyeux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ennuyer is \ɑ̃.nɥi.je\ while ennuyeux is \ɑ̃.nɥi.jø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ennuyer is recorded at frequency rank #13,374, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi.je\. ennuyeux is at rank #14,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi.jø\.
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 27406, this pair ranks #329,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ennuyer vs ennuyeux
Shared letters: enuy. Private to "ennuyer": r. Private to "ennuyeux": x.
"ennuyer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC · "ennuyeux" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ennuyer" and "ennuyeux" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ennuyer" vs "ennuyeux" - 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 "ennuyer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ennuyeux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ennuyer" and "ennuyeux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ennuyée vs ennuyeux". 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 #329,190 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.