Which to use
“virtues” and “virus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,546
- “virtues” frequency rank
- #3,537
- “virus” frequency rank
- 19083
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | virtues | virus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of virtue | 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 eye mixes virtues and virus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. virtues runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against virus's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: virtues vs virus
A purely visual mix-up. virtues (/ˈvəː.t͡ʃuːs/) and virus (/ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
virtues is recorded at frequency rank #15,546, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvəː.t͡ʃuːs/. 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 19083, this pair ranks #440,625 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of virtues vs virus
Shared letters: irsuv. Private to "virtues": et. Private to "virus": -.
"virtues" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "virus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "virtues" for "virus" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "virtues" or "virus" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "virtues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,625 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "virtues" and "virus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vikas vs virus". 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 #440,625 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.