Which to use
“vice” and “vole” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,024
- “vice” frequency rank
- #45,158
- “vole” frequency rank
- 47182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vice | vole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bad or immoral behaviour. | Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini. |
Where the eye mixes vice and vole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vice with vole
A purely visual mix-up. vice (/vaɪs/) and vole (/vəʊl/) 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 47182, 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/. vole is at rank #45,158, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vəʊl/.
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 47182, this pair ranks #204,798 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vice vs vole
Shared letters: ev. Private to "vice": ci. Private to "vole": lo.
"vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vice" and "vole" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vice" or "vole"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "vice" and "vole" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,798 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vice" and "vole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vel vs vole". 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 #204,798 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.