vicevsviveConfusable pair

Quick tell: vice is a noun, vive is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vice” is a noun and “vive” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,622
“vice” frequency rank
#37,878
“vive” frequency rank
50500
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vice vive
Definition Laster, Untugend Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs viver (unabhängig von Person und Numerus)

Letter map: vice vs vive

Shared letters muted; letters that set vice and vive apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
vice
4 ch
vive

Grammar separator: vice vs vive

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vice is anoun and viveaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - c in “vice” becomes v in “vive”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50500, 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]. vive is at rank #37,878, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 50500, this pair ranks #1,171,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vice vs vive

Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vice": c. Private to "vive": -.

"vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vive" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viceivce · vcie · vicce · viec · vvice
  • viveivve · viev · vivve · vvie · vvive

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vice" and "vive" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vice" is a noun and "vive" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vice" or "vive"?
"vice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,622 in our German list, against #37,878 for "vive". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "vice" and "vive". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,171,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vice" and "vive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs vive". 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 #1,171,354 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list