Which to use
“veuf” and “vieux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,134
- “veuf” frequency rank
- #652
- “vieux” frequency rank
- 22786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | veuf | vieux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est privé de. | D’un certain âge (relatif à un autre). |
Where the eye mixes veuf and vieux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. veuf runs 4 letters (CVVC) against vieux's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between veuf and vieux
A purely visual mix-up. veuf (\vœf\) 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 22786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
veuf is recorded at frequency rank #22,134, classified as anadj, pronounced \vœf\. 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 22786, this pair ranks #356,162 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of veuf vs vieux
Shared letters: euv. Private to "veuf": f. Private to "vieux": ix.
"veuf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "vieux" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "veuf" for "vieux" ever safe?
Which is more common, "veuf" or "vieux"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "veuf" and "vieux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "veuf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vieux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #356,162 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "veuf" and "vieux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "veuf vs voui". 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 #356,162 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.