Which to use
“vieilli” is an adjective and “vielle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,536
- “vieilli” frequency rank
- #17,035
- “vielle” frequency rank
- 32571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vieilli | vielle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a pris un coup de vieux. | Instrument de musique à cordes, dont on joue par le moyen de touches et d’une roue qu’on tourne avec une manivelle, qui permet de faire sonner les cordes mélodiques et bourdon, et, par accélérations rapides, de faire vibrer la corde trompette et le chien pour donner un son caractéristique grésillant. |
Where the eye mixes vieilli and vielle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vieilli runs 7 letters (CVVVCCV) against vielle's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: vieilli vs vielle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vieilli is \vje.ji\ while vielle is \vjɛl\. 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 32571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vieilli is recorded at frequency rank #15,536, classified as anadj, pronounced \vje.ji\. vielle is at rank #17,035, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vjɛl\.
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 32571, this pair ranks #296,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vieilli vs vielle
Shared letters: eilv. Private to "vieilli": -. Private to "vielle": -.
"vieilli" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV · "vielle" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vieilli" for "vielle" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vieilli" or "vielle"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vieilli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vielle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vieilli" and "vielle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vieilli vs vieillot". 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 #296,395 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.