volevsvoxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“vole” and “vox” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,158
“vole” frequency rank
#21,699
“vox” frequency rank
66857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vole vox
Definition Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini. The voice, especially one's singing voice; vocals.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vole and vox apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vole
3 ch
vox

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

vole and vox are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66857, 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/. vox is at rank #21,699, tagged as anoun.

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 66857, this pair ranks #66,106 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vole vs vox

Shared letters: ov. Private to "vole": el. Private to "vox": x.

"vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • voleovle · vloe · voel · volle · vvole

Frequency comparison

vole#45,158
vox#21,699

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vole" and "vox" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "vole" or "vox"?
"vox" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,699 in our English list, against #45,158 for "vole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vole vs vox

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 “vole” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list