Which to use
“variole” is a noun and “virile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,918
- “variole” frequency rank
- #34,357
- “virile” frequency rank
- 61275
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | variole | virile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maladie générale, infectieuse et contagieuse, des humains et des animaux, caractérisée par une éruption de boutons pustuleux, qui laissent ordinairement de petits creux dans la peau après la guérison. | Féminin singulier de viril. |
Where the eye mixes variole and virile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. variole runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against virile's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between variole and virile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: variole is \va.ʁjɔl\ while virile is \vi.ʁil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
variole is recorded at frequency rank #26,918, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.ʁjɔl\. virile is at rank #34,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.ʁil\.
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 61275, this pair ranks #93,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of variole vs virile
Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "variole": ao. Private to "virile": -.
"variole" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "virile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "variole" and "virile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "variole" vs "virile" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "variole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "variole" and "virile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigie vs virile". 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 #93,115 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.