Which to use
“vigil” and “virgin” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,407
- “vigil” frequency rank
- #3,992
- “virgin” frequency rank
- 25399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vigil | virgin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray. | A person who has never had sexual intercourse, or (uncommonly) an animal that has never mated. |
Where the eye mixes vigil and virgin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vigil runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against virgin's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vigil with virgin
A purely visual mix-up. vigil (/ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/) and virgin (/ˈvɜːd͡ʒɪn/) 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 25399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vigil is recorded at frequency rank #21,407, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/. virgin is at rank #3,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɜːd͡ʒɪn/.
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 25399, this pair ranks #394,558 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vigil vs virgin
Shared letters: giv. Private to "vigil": l. Private to "virgin": nr.
"vigil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "virgin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vigil" and "virgin" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vigil" or "virgin"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vigil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virgin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,558 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vigil" and "virgin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigil vs Vigo". 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 #394,558 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.