vig
/vɪɡ/
"vig" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vig” is uncommon English (frequency #56,519 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,519
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of vigorish (“charge taken on bets”).
Corpus desk
Index EN-vig · vig · English
vig · rank #56,519 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #56,519
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH VFR
Nearest frequency peer: VFR (-2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “vig”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- ventriloqui…
ventriloquist
43,487 corpus weight
- vesper
vesper
43,485 corpus weight
- VFR
VFR
43,484 corpus weight
- vig
vig
43,482 corpus weight
- VMA
VMA
43,480 corpus weight
- vociferous
vociferous
43,479 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “vig” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vig |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɪɡ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #56,519 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “vig” in English
Rare enough to double-check
vig is uncommon English at frequency #56,519 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /vɪɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for vig in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of vigorish, from Yiddish וויגריש (vigrish), from Russian вы́игрыш (výigryš, “winnings”). The correct English form is vig, spelled V-I-G.
Definition
- 1Synonym of vigorish (“charge taken on bets”).
- 2Synonym of vigorish (“interest from a loan, as from a loan shark”).
- 3Synonym of vigorish (“commission, finder's fee, or similar extra charge”).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how vig appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The house sets vigs on any game they allow you to bet on. It is your responsibility to play only those games where the vig is not prohibitive. Let's take one more look at how vigorish works for the house.
The bookmaker's mean profit per dollar bet is called vigorish or “the vig.” In our example, 11 + 11 = $22 is bet, and the bookmaker wins $1 so the vig is 1/22 = 4.5%.
Etymology
Clipping of vigorish, from Yiddish וויגריש (vigrish), from Russian вы́игрыш (výigryš, “winnings”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vig", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).