enormevsenxameWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: enorme is a adjective, enxame is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“enorme” is an adjective and “enxame” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,392
“enorme” frequency rank
#32,973
“enxame” frequency rank
34365
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enorme enxame
Definition desviado de norma agrupamento de abelhas da mesma colmeia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set enorme and enxame apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
enorme
6 ch
enxame

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enorme is /i.ˈnɔɾ.mɨ/ while enxame is /ẽ.ˈʃɐ.mɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enorme is recorded at frequency rank #1,392, classified as anadj, pronounced /i.ˈnɔɾ.mɨ/. enxame is at rank #32,973, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ẽ.ˈʃɐ.mɨ/.

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 34365, this pair ranks #32,926 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enorme vs enxame

Shared letters: emn. Private to "enorme": or. Private to "enxame": ax.

"enorme" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "enxame" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enormeennorme · enomre · enorem · enormme · enorrme · enrome · eonrme · neorme
  • enxameenaxme · ennxame · enxaem · enxamme · enxmae · enxxame · exname · nexame

Frequency comparison

enorme#1,392
enxame#32,973

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enorme" and "enxame" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "enorme" is an adjective and "enxame" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "enorme" or "enxame"?
"enorme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,392 in our Portuguese list, against #32,973 for "enxame". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering enorme vs enxame

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “enorme”; for a noun, it's “enxame”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “enorme” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list