Which to use
“vole” is a noun and “vowed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,158
- “vole” frequency rank
- #17,518
- “vowed” frequency rank
- 62676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vole | vowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini. | past participle of vow |
Where the eye mixes vole and vowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vole runs 4 letters (CVCV) against vowed's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vole and vowed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vole is /vəʊl/ while vowed is /vaʊd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62676, 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/. vowed is at rank #17,518, tagged as averb, pronounced /vaʊd/.
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 62676, this pair ranks #87,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vole vs vowed
Shared letters: eov. Private to "vole": l. Private to "vowed": dw.
"vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vowed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vole" for "vowed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vole" vs "vowed" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "vowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vole" and "vowed" 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 #87,133 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.