validevsvideWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“valide” and “vide” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,258
“valide” frequency rank
#1,546
“vide” frequency rank
8804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valide vide
Definition Qui est valable, qui a les conditions requises par la loi pour produire son effet. Qui ne contient rien ; qui est totalement dépourvu de.

Where the eye mixes valide and vide

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
valide
4 ch
vide

Look-alike desk: valide vs vide

A purely visual mix-up. valide (\va.lid\) and vide (\vid\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valide is recorded at frequency rank #7,258, classified as anadj, pronounced \va.lid\. vide is at rank #1,546, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vid\.

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 8804, this pair ranks #418,787 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valide vs vide

Shared letters: deiv. Private to "valide": al. Private to "vide": -.

"valide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "vide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valideavlide · vailde · valdie · validde · valied · vallide · vlaide · vvalide
  • videivde · vdie · vidde · vied · vvide

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "valide" and "vide" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\va.lid\ versus \vid\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "valide" vs "vide" - which ranks higher?
"vide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,546 in our French list, against #7,258 for "valide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "valide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #418,787 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valide" and "vide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valide vs valident". 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 #418,787 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list