vile
/vaɪ(ə)l/
"vile" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vile” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #12,713) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #12,713
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Morally low; base; despicable.
Corpus desk
Index EN-vile · vile · English
vile · rank #12,713 · 3 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #12,713
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 3 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH vastly
Nearest frequency peer: vastly (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “vile”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- vale
vale
87,291 corpus weight
- Valencia
Valencia
87,290 corpus weight
- vastly
vastly
87,289 corpus weight
- vile
vile
87,288 corpus weight
- violently
violently
87,287 corpus weight
- wedge
wedge
87,286 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “vile” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vile |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /vaɪ(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #12,713 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vile” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for vile is neighbouring look-alikes ("vol", "VIP", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /vaɪ(ə)l/. Frequency #12,713 among 969 “V” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for vile, with forms such as "ivle", "vlie", and "vvile". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "vol", "VIP", "vis", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English vile, vyle, vyl, from Anglo-Norman ville, Old French vil, vile, from Latin vīlis. The correct English form is vile, spelled V-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1Morally low; base; despicable.
- 2Causing physical or mental repulsion; horrid.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how vile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
vile accusation
Turn now to the temperance revolution. In it we shall find a stronger bondage broken, a viler slavery manumitted, a greater tyrant deposed; in it, more of want supplied, more disease healed, more sorrow assuaged.
Etymology
From Middle English vile, vyle, vyl, from Anglo-Norman ville, Old French vil, vile, from Latin vīlis.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ivle
- vlie
- vvile
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vile - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
How do you spell "vile"?
What does "vile" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "vile"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vile", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "vile". Here's where to go from here.
- "vile" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "vol". View pair
- 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #12,713 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "V" letter cohort. V–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.