Which to use
“vexer” and “vouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,431
- “vexer” frequency rank
- #43,728
- “vouer” frequency rank
- 68159
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vexer | vouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tourmenter par abus de pouvoir ; opprimer ; persécuter. | Promettre par vœu. |
Where the eye mixes vexer and vouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vexer (CVCVC) and vouer (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses vexer with vouer
A purely visual mix-up. vexer (\vɛk.se\) and vouer (\vwe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vexer is recorded at frequency rank #24,431, classified as averb, pronounced \vɛk.se\. vouer is at rank #43,728, tagged as averb, pronounced \vwe\.
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 68159, this pair ranks #60,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vexer vs vouer
Shared letters: erv. Private to "vexer": x. Private to "vouer": ou.
"vexer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "vouer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vexer" and "vouer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "vexer" or "vouer" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vexer" and "vouer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vexer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vexer" and "vouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vouer vs voûtée". 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 #60,308 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.