Which to use
“vieil” and “viril” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,254
- “vieil” frequency rank
- #20,889
- “viril” frequency rank
- 27143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vieil | viril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin singulier de vieux devant une voyelle ou un h muet. | Qui appartient à l’homme, en tant que mâle. |
Where the eye mixes vieil and viril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between vieil and viril
A purely visual mix-up. vieil (\vjɛj\) and viril (\vi.ʁil\) 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 - e in “vieil” becomes r in “viril”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vieil is recorded at frequency rank #6,254, classified as anadj, pronounced \vjɛj\. viril is at rank #20,889, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.ʁil\.
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 27143, this pair ranks #330,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vieil vs viril
Shared letters: ilv. Private to "vieil": e. Private to "viril": r.
"vieil" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "viril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vieil" for "viril" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vieil" or "viril"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "vieil" and "viril" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vieil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #330,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vieil" and "viril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vial vs viril". 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 #330,838 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.