Which to use
“vicar” and “vice” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,990
- “vicar” frequency rank
- #2,024
- “vice” frequency rank
- 20014
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vicar | vice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In the Church of England, the priest of a parish, receiving a salary or stipend but not tithes. | Bad or immoral behaviour. |
Where the eye mixes vicar and vice
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. vicar (/ˈvɪkɚ/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vicar is recorded at frequency rank #17,990, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɪkɚ/. 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 20014, this pair ranks #434,143 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vicar vs vice
Shared letters: civ. Private to "vicar": ar. Private to "vice": e.
"vicar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV