Which to use
“virtue” and “virus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,872
- “virtue” frequency rank
- #3,537
- “virus” frequency rank
- 11409
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | virtue | virus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (uncountable) The idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods. | A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set virtue and virus apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
virtue and virus form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
virtue is recorded at frequency rank #7,872, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɜːt͡ʃuː/. virus is at rank #3,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/.
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 11409, this pair ranks #487,221 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "virtue" and "virus" be used interchangeably?
Remembering virtue vs virus
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 “virtue” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable