Which to use
“vice” and “vie” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,622
- “vice” frequency rank
- #14,708
- “vie” frequency rank
- 27330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vice | vie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laster, Untugend | Leben |
Where the eye mixes vice and vie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between vice and vie
A purely visual mix-up. vice ([vis]) and vie ([vi]) 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 27330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vice is recorded at frequency rank #12,622, classified as anoun, pronounced [vis]. vie is at rank #14,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vi].
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 27330, this pair ranks #1,803,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vice vs vie
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vice": c. Private to "vie": -.
"vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vie" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- vice ← ivce · vcie · vicce · viec · vvice
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vice" for "vie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vice" or "vie"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "vice" and "vie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,803,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vice" and "vie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vie vs voip". 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 #1,803,521 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.