Which to use
“vice” and “vires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,614
- “vice” frequency rank
- #43,722
- “vires” frequency rank
- 45336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vice | vires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Défaut, imperfection grave qui rend une chose plus ou moins impropre à sa destination. | Pluriel de vire. |
Where the eye mixes vice and vires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vice vs vires
A purely visual mix-up. vice (\vis\) and vires (\viʁ\) 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 45336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vice is recorded at frequency rank #1,614, classified as anoun, pronounced \vis\. vires is at rank #43,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced \viʁ\.
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 45336, this pair ranks #203,487 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vice vs vires
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vice": c. Private to "vires": rs.
"vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vice" for "vires" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vice" vs "vires" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,487 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vice" and "vires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "virées vs vires". 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 #203,487 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.