vilovsvirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“vilo” and “vir” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,132
“vilo” frequency rank
#35,303
“vir” frequency rank
76435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vilo vir
Definition Véase en vilo Mutación suave del sustantivo femenino bir ('flecha')

Where the eye mixes vilo and vir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vilo
3 ch
vir

Look-alike desk: vilo vs vir

A purely visual mix-up. vilo ([ˈbilo]) and vir ([ˈviːr]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vilo is recorded at frequency rank #41,132, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbilo]. vir is at rank #35,303, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːr].

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 76435, this pair ranks #17,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vilo vs vir

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vilo": lo. Private to "vir": r.

"vilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vilobilo · ivlo · villo · viol · vlio · vvilo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vilo" for "vir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbilo] versus [ˈviːr]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "vilo" or "vir" show up more?
"vir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,303 in our Spanish list, against #41,132 for "vilo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vilo" and "vir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vilo" and "vir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vilo vs visos". 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 #17,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list