Which to use
“vieille” and “vrille” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,843
- “vieille” frequency rank
- #24,077
- “vrille” frequency rank
- 25920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vieille | vrille |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Femme âgée. | Pousse filiforme, en spirale avec laquelle la vigne et d’autres plantes grimpantes s’attachent aux corps qui sont près d’elles. |
Where the eye mixes vieille and vrille
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vieille runs 7 letters (CVVVCCV) against vrille's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vieille and vrille
A purely visual mix-up. vieille (\vjɛj\) and vrille (\vʁij\) 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 25920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vieille is recorded at frequency rank #1,843, classified as anoun, pronounced \vjɛj\. vrille is at rank #24,077, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vʁij\.
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 25920, this pair ranks #338,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vieille vs vrille
Shared letters: eilv. Private to "vieille": -. Private to "vrille": r.
"vieille" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV · "vrille" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vieille" and "vrille" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "vieille" vs "vrille" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vieille" and "vrille" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vieille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vrille" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vieille" and "vrille" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vile vs vrille". 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 #338,115 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.