Which to use
“viable” and “vile” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,820
- “viable” frequency rank
- #37,122
- “vile” frequency rank
- 51942
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | viable | vile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est apte à vivre. | Féminin singulier de vil. |
Where the eye mixes viable and vile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between viable and vile
A purely visual mix-up. viable (\vjabl\) and vile (\vil\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
viable is recorded at frequency rank #14,820, classified as anadj, pronounced \vjabl\. 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 51942, this pair ranks #151,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of viable vs vile
Shared letters: eilv. Private to "viable": ab. Private to "vile": -.
"viable" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "vile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "viable" for "vile" ever safe?
Which is more common, "viable" or "vile"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "viable" 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 #151,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "viable" 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 #151,297 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.