Which to use
“vilain” and “vilains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,607
- “vilain” frequency rank
- #20,017
- “vilains” frequency rank
- 30624
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vilain | vilains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui déplaît à la vue. | Masculin pluriel de vilain. |
Same sound, different letters: vilain vs vilains
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. vilain runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against vilains's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - vilain / vilains
This is the hard kind. vilain and vilains are pronounced identically (\vi.lɛ̃\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vilain” sits inside “vilains”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30624, 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\. vilains is at rank #20,017, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.lɛ̃\.
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 30624, this pair ranks #309,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vilain vs vilains
Shared letters: ailnv. Private to "vilain": -. Private to "vilains": s.
"vilain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "vilains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vilain" for "vilains" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vilain" vs "vilains" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "vilain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vilains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vilain" and "vilains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vilains vs visais". 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 #309,033 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.