venturevsvultureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,640
“venture” frequency rank
#23,151
“vulture” frequency rank
27791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature venture vulture
Definition A risky or daring undertaking or journey. Any of several carrion-eating birds of the families Accipitridae and Cathartidae.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set venture and vulture apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
venture
7 ch
vulture

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. venture (/ˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/) and vulture (/ˈvʌltʃə/) 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 27791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

venture is recorded at frequency rank #4,640, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/. vulture is at rank #23,151, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvʌltʃə/.

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 27791, this pair ranks #376,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of venture vs vulture

Shared letters: ertuv. Private to "venture": n. Private to "vulture": l.

"venture" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "vulture" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ventureevnture · vennture · ventrue · ventture · ventuer · venturre · venutre · vetnure
  • vultureuvlture · vluture · vullture · vultrue · vultture · vultuer · vulturre · vulutre

Frequency comparison

venture#4,640
vulture#23,151

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "venture" and "vulture" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ versus /ˈvʌltʃə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "venture" or "vulture"?
"venture" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,640 in our English list, against #23,151 for "vulture". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering venture vs vulture

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “venture” 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