Which to use
“vole” and “vow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,158
- “vole” frequency rank
- #13,836
- “vow” frequency rank
- 58994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vole | vow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini. | A solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order. |
Where the eye mixes vole and vow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. vole runs 4 letters (CVCV) against vow's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: vole vs vow
A purely visual mix-up. vole (/vəʊl/) and vow (/vaʊ/) 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 58994, 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/. vow is at rank #13,836, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vaʊ/.
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 58994, this pair ranks #108,945 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vole vs vow
Shared letters: ov. Private to "vole": el. Private to "vow": w.
"vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vole ← ovle · vloe · voel · volle · vvole
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vole" and "vow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "vole" vs "vow" - which ranks higher?
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 "vole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,945 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vole" and "vow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vel vs vole". 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 #108,945 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.