Which to use
“vilain” and “vilaines” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,607
- “vilain” frequency rank
- #38,598
- “vilaines” frequency rank
- 49205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vilain | vilaines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui déplaît à la vue. | Féminin pluriel de vilain. |
Where the eye mixes vilain and vilaines
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vilain runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against vilaines's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vilain and vilaines
A purely visual mix-up. vilain (\vi.lɛ̃\) and vilaines (\vi.lɛn\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “vilain” sits inside “vilaines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vilain is recorded at frequency rank #10,607, classified as anadj, pronounced \vi.lɛ̃\. vilaines is at rank #38,598, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.lɛn\.
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 49205, this pair ranks #172,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vilain vs vilaines
Shared letters: ailnv. Private to "vilain": -. Private to "vilaines": es.
"vilain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "vilaines" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vilain" and "vilaines" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "vilain" vs "vilaines" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vilain" and "vilaines" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vilain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vilaines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vilain" and "vilaines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vaines vs vilaines". 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 #172,568 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.