Which to use
“vices” and “vires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,506
- “vices” frequency rank
- #43,722
- “vires” frequency rank
- 60228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vices | vires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de vice. | Pluriel de vire. |
Where the eye mixes vices and vires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vices and vires follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses vices with vires
A purely visual mix-up. vices (\visəz\) 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 a single letter - c in “vices” becomes r in “vires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vices is recorded at frequency rank #16,506, classified as anoun, pronounced \visəz\. 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 60228, this pair ranks #98,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vices vs vires
Shared letters: eisv. Private to "vices": c. Private to "vires": r.
"vices" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "vires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vices" and "vires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "vices" or "vires"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vices" 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 #98,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vices" 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 #98,752 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.