véreuxvsvieuxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,240
“véreux” frequency rank
#652
“vieux” frequency rank
32892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature véreux vieux
Definition Où il y a des vers. D’un certain âge (relatif à un autre).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set véreux and vieux apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
véreux
5 ch
vieux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. véreux (\ve.ʁø\) and vieux (\vjø\) 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 32892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

véreux is recorded at frequency rank #32,240, classified as anadj, pronounced \ve.ʁø\. vieux is at rank #652, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vjø\.

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 32892, this pair ranks #294,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of véreux vs vieux

Shared letters: euvx. Private to "véreux": . Private to "vieux": i.

"véreux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "vieux" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vieuxiveux · veiux · vieuxx · viexu · viuex · vvieux

Frequency comparison

véreux#32,240
vieux#652

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "véreux" and "vieux" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ve.ʁø\ versus \vjø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "véreux" or "vieux"?
"vieux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #652 in our French list, against #32,240 for "véreux". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering véreux vs vieux

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “véreux” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list