Which to use
“vacance” and “variance” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,381
- “vacance” frequency rank
- #36,640
- “variance” frequency rank
- 51021
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vacance | variance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | État d'une charge, d'une dignité, d'un poste vacant. | Mesure de la dispersion des échantillons autour de la moyenne. |
Where the eye mixes vacance and variance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vacance runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against variance's 8 (CVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vacance with variance
A purely visual mix-up. vacance (\va.kɑ̃s\) and variance (\va.ʁjɑ̃s\) 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 51021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vacance is recorded at frequency rank #14,381, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.kɑ̃s\. variance is at rank #36,640, tagged as anoun, pronounced \va.ʁjɑ̃s\.
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 51021, this pair ranks #158,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vacance vs variance
Shared letters: acenv. Private to "vacance": -. Private to "variance": ir.
"vacance" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "variance" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vacance" and "variance" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "vacance" or "variance" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vacance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "variance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vacance" and "variance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Varane vs variance". 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 #158,191 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.