Which to use
“vir” is a noun and “viril” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,303
- “vir” frequency rank
- #41,134
- “viril” frequency rank
- 76437
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vir | viril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mutación suave del sustantivo femenino bir ('flecha') | Propio de o relativo a los varones |
Where the eye mixes vir and viril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vir runs 3 letters (CVC) against viril's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vir and viril
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vir is [ˈviːr] while viril is [biˈɾil]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “vir” sits inside “viril”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vir is recorded at frequency rank #35,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːr]. viril is at rank #41,134, tagged as anadj, pronounced [biˈɾil].
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 76437, this pair ranks #17,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vir vs viril
Shared letters: irv. Private to "vir": -. Private to "viril": l.
"vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "viril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- viril ← biril · ivril · viirl · virill · virli · virril · vriil · vviril
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vir" and "viril" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "vir" or "viril" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vir" and "viril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vira vs viril". 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 #17,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.