vicevsvilaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,024
“vice” frequency rank
#40,956
“vila” frequency rank
42980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vice vila
Definition Bad or immoral behaviour. A type of female nature spirit in Slavic mythology, similar in some ways to a fairy or nymph.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vice and vila apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vice
4 ch
vila

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vice (/vaɪs/) and vila (/ˈviːlə/) 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 42980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vice is recorded at frequency rank #2,024, classified as anoun, pronounced /vaɪs/. vila is at rank #40,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈviːlə/.

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 42980, this pair ranks #244,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vice vs vila

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vice": ce. Private to "vila": al.

"vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viceivce · vcie · vicce · viec · vvice
  • vilaivla · vlia · vvila

Frequency comparison

vice#2,024
vila#40,956

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vice" and "vila" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/vaɪs/ versus /ˈviːlə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vice" or "vila"?
"vice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,024 in our English list, against #40,956 for "vila". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vice vs vila

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 “vice” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list