Which to use
“vils” and “vives” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,805
- “vils” frequency rank
- #7,637
- “vives” frequency rank
- 52442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vils | vives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de vil. | Féminin pluriel de vif. |
Where the eye mixes vils and vives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vils with vives
A purely visual mix-up. vils (\vil\) and vives (\viv\) 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 52442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vils is recorded at frequency rank #44,805, classified as anadj, pronounced \vil\. vives is at rank #7,637, tagged as anadj, pronounced \viv\.
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 52442, this pair ranks #147,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vils vs vives
Shared letters: isv. Private to "vils": l. Private to "vives": e.
"vils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "vives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vils" for "vives" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vils" vs "vives" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "vils" and "vives" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #147,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vils" and "vives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vils 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 #147,681 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.