vasevsviceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“vase” and “vice” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,245
“vase” frequency rank
#2,024
“vice” frequency rank
16269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vase vice
Definition An upright open container used mainly for displaying fresh, dried, or artificial flowers. Bad or immoral behaviour.

Where the eye mixes vase and vice

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vase
4 ch
vice

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vase (/vɑːz/) and vice (/vaɪs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vase is recorded at frequency rank #14,245, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɑːz/. vice is at rank #2,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vaɪs/.

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 16269, this pair ranks #458,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vase vs vice

Shared letters: ev. Private to "vase": as. Private to "vice": ci.

"vase" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vaseavse · vaes · vasse · vsae · vvase
  • viceivce · vcie · vicce · viec · vvice

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vase" and "vice" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/vɑːz/ versus /vaɪs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vase" or "vice"?
"vice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,024 in our English list, against #14,245 for "vase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list