vidvsvimWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,267
“vid” frequency rank
#42,480
“vim” frequency rank
59747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vid vim
Definition Clipping of video. Ready vitality and vigour.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
vid
3 ch
vim

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vid (/vɪd/) and vim (/vɪm/) 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 a single letter - d in “vid” becomes m in “vim”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vid is recorded at frequency rank #17,267, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɪd/. vim is at rank #42,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vɪm/.

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 59747, this pair ranks #104,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vid vs vim

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vid": d. Private to "vim": m.

"vid" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vim" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

vid#17,267
vim#42,480

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vid" and "vim" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/vɪd/ versus /vɪm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vid" or "vim"?
"vid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,267 in our English list, against #42,480 for "vim". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vid vs vim

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 “vid” 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