Which to use
“vile” is an adjective and “viol” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,122
- “vile” frequency rank
- #4,030
- “viol” frequency rank
- 41152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vile | viol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de vil. | Violence que l’on fait à une personne sans consentement, par la force ou la ruse, consistant en une pénétration sexuelle, vaginale, anale ou orale. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vile and viol apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
vile and viol form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vile is recorded at frequency rank #37,122, classified as anadj, pronounced \vil\. viol is at rank #4,030, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vjɔl\.
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 41152, this pair ranks #235,243 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vile" and "viol" be used interchangeably?
Remembering vile vs viol
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vile”; for a noun, it's “viol”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vile” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable