Which to use
“vilain” is an adjective and “vlan” is an onomatopoeia - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,607
- “vilain” frequency rank
- #49,427
- “vlan” frequency rank
- 60034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vilain | vlan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui déplaît à la vue. | Onomatopée indiquant un bruit soudain, un coup subit. |
Where the eye mixes vilain and vlan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vilain runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against vlan's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vilain and vlan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vilain is \vi.lɛ̃\ while vlan is \vlɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs onomatopoeia), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60034, 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\. vlan is at rank #49,427, tagged as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \vlɑ̃\.
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 60034, this pair ranks #99,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vilain vs vlan
Shared letters: alnv. Private to "vilain": i. Private to "vlan": -.
"vilain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "vlan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vilain" for "vlan" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vilain" vs "vlan" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vilain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vlan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vilain" and "vlan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigan vs vlan". 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 #99,834 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.