vigilant vs vigilante, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vigilant” is an adjective and “vigilante” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,730
“vigilant” frequency rank: #19,499
“vigilante” frequency rank: 38229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vigilant	vigilante
Definition	Watchful, especially for danger or disorder; alert; wary	A member of a vigilance committee.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vigilant and vigilante apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

vigilant

9 ch

vigilante

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vigilant is /ˈvɪd͡ʒɪlənt/ while vigilante is /ˌvɪd͡ʒ.ɪˈlæn.ti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vigilant” sits inside “vigilante”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigilant is recorded at frequency rank #18,730, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈvɪd͡ʒɪlənt/. vigilante is at rank #19,499, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌvɪd͡ʒ.ɪˈlæn.ti/.

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 38229, this pair ranks #287,756 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigilant vs vigilante

Shared letters: agilntv. Private to "vigilant": -. Private to "vigilante": e.

"vigilant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "vigilante" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

vigilant ← ivgilant · vgiilant · viggilant · vigialnt · vigilannt · vigilantt · vigilatn · vigillant
vigilante ← ivgilante · vgiilante · viggilante · vigialnte · vigilanet · vigilannte · vigilantte · vigilatne

Frequency comparison

vigilant#18,730

vigilante#19,499

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vigilant" and "vigilante" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vigilant" is an adjective and "vigilante" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "vigilant" or "vigilante"?

"vigilant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,730 in our English list, against #19,499 for "vigilante". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vigilant vs vigilante

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vigilant”; for a noun, it's “vigilante”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vigilant” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable