Which to use
“veille” is a noun and “vile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,203
- “veille” frequency rank
- #37,122
- “vile” frequency rank
- 39325
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | veille | vile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | État du corps de l’homme ou de l’animal, dans lequel les sens sont en action. | Féminin singulier de vil. |
Where the eye mixes veille and vile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. veille runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against vile's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between veille and vile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: veille is \vɛj\ while vile is \vil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 39325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
veille is recorded at frequency rank #2,203, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɛj\. vile is at rank #37,122, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vil\.
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 39325, this pair ranks #248,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of veille vs vile
Shared letters: eilv. Private to "veille": -. Private to "vile": -.
"veille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "vile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "veille" and "vile" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "veille" or "vile" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "veille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "veille" and "vile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vile vs viv". 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 #248,847 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.