Which to use
“veiller” and “voiler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,908
- “veiller” frequency rank
- #21,812
- “voiler” frequency rank
- 28720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | veiller | voiler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | S’abstenir de dormir pendant le temps destiné au sommeil. | Couvrir d’un voile. |
Where the eye mixes veiller and voiler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. veiller runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against voiler's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: veiller vs voiler
A purely visual mix-up. veiller (\vɛ.je\) and voiler (\vwa.le\) 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 28720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
veiller is recorded at frequency rank #6,908, classified as averb, pronounced \vɛ.je\. voiler is at rank #21,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \vwa.le\.
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 28720, this pair ranks #321,105 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of veiller vs voiler
Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "veiller": -. Private to "voiler": o.
"veiller" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "voiler" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "veiller" and "voiler" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "veiller" vs "voiler" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "veiller" and "voiler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "veiller" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voiler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,105 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "veiller" and "voiler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vilar vs voiler". 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 #321,105 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.