Which to use
“vile” and “virile” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,122
- “vile” frequency rank
- #34,357
- “virile” frequency rank
- 71479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vile | virile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de vil. | Féminin singulier de viril. |
Where the eye mixes vile and virile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vile runs 4 letters (CVCV) against virile's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between vile and virile
A purely visual mix-up. vile (\vil\) and virile (\vi.ʁil\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71479, 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\. virile is at rank #34,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.ʁil\.
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 71479, this pair ranks #47,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vile vs virile
Shared letters: eilv. Private to "vile": -. Private to "virile": r.
"vile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "virile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vile" and "virile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "vile" or "virile"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "vile" and "virile" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vile" and "virile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vile vs viv". 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 #47,419 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.