Which to use
“vilaines” and “vilains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,598
- “vilaines” frequency rank
- #20,017
- “vilains” frequency rank
- 58615
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vilaines | vilains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de vilain. | Masculin pluriel de vilain. |
Where the eye mixes vilaines and vilains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vilaines runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against vilains's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vilaines and vilains
A purely visual mix-up. vilaines (\vi.lɛn\) and vilains (\vi.lɛ̃\) 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 58615, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vilaines is recorded at frequency rank #38,598, classified as anadj, pronounced \vi.lɛn\. 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 58615, this pair ranks #108,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vilaines vs vilains
Shared letters: ailnsv. Private to "vilaines": e. Private to "vilains": -.
"vilaines" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "vilains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vilaines" for "vilains" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vilaines" vs "vilains" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vilaines" and "vilains" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vilaines" 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 #108,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vilaines" and "vilains" 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 #108,010 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.