Which to use
“vide” is an adjective and “vir” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,546
- “vide” frequency rank
- #46,521
- “vir” frequency rank
- 48067
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vide | vir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui ne contient rien ; qui est totalement dépourvu de. | Forme mutée de bir par adoucissement (b → v). |
Where the eye mixes vide and vir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vide with vir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vide is \vid\ while vir is \ˈviː.r\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vide is recorded at frequency rank #1,546, classified as anadj, pronounced \vid\. vir is at rank #46,521, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈviː.r\.
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 48067, this pair ranks #181,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vide vs vir
Shared letters: iv. Private to "vide": de. Private to "vir": r.
"vide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vide ← ivde · vdie · vidde · vied · vvide
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vide" for "vir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vide" or "vir"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "vide" and "vir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vide" and "vir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vir 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 #181,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.