vie
/vaɪ/verb
vie is spelled V-I-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, vie means “To fight for superiority; to contend; to compete eagerly so as to gain something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in vie?
| Letters | 3: V-I-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is vie?
Vie appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce vie?
- /vaɪ/
Vie has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-vie.wav, En-us-vie.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with vie
Also written: vy.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of vie
- vies present, singular, he/she/it
- vying participle, present
- vieing participle, present, rare
- vied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vie mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To fight for superiority; to contend; to compete eagerly so as to gain something.
Near-synonym: oppose
- 2
archaicTo rival (something), etc.
- 3
To do or produce in emulation, competition, or rivalry; to put in competition; to bandy.
- 4
To stake; to wager.
- 5
To stake a sum of money upon a hand of cards, as in the old game of gleek. See revie.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of variable interest entity.
- 2
Abbreviation of vacuum insulated evaporator.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA contest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vie in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to rival; to struggle for superiority; to compete:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | concourir, rivaliser, être en compétition pour |
| German | wetteifern, konkurrieren |
| Portuguese | competir |
| Spanish | rivalizar, competir, disputarse, luchar, contender |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vie come from?
Apheretic form of envy, from Middle English envien, from Old French envier, from Latin invītō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).