Which to use
“envier” is a verb and “envieux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,195
- “envier” frequency rank
- #30,593
- “envieux” frequency rank
- 48788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | envier | envieux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Désirer pour soi les avantages d’autrui. | Qui a de l’envie, qui est sujet à l’envie. |
Where the eye mixes envier and envieux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. envier runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against envieux's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: envier vs envieux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: envier is \ɑ̃.vje\ while envieux is \ɑ̃.vjø\. 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 48788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
envier is recorded at frequency rank #18,195, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.vje\. envieux is at rank #30,593, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.vjø\.
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 48788, this pair ranks #176,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of envier vs envieux
Shared letters: einv. Private to "envier": r. Private to "envieux": ux.
"envier" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "envieux" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "envier" and "envieux" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "envier" or "envieux"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "envier" and "envieux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "envier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "envieux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #176,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "envier" and "envieux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "envient vs envieux". 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 #176,043 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.