Which to use
“vole” and “vote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,158
- “vole” frequency rank
- #820
- “vote” frequency rank
- 45978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vole | vote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini. | A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute. |
Where the eye mixes vole and vote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. vole (/vəʊl/) and vote (/vəʊt/) 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 - l in “vole” becomes t in “vote”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vole is recorded at frequency rank #45,158, classified as anoun, pronounced /vəʊl/. vote is at rank #820, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vəʊt/.
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 45978, this pair ranks #216,162 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vole vs vote
Shared letters: eov. Private to "vole": l. Private to "vote": t.
"vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV