Which to use
“viols” and “voles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,324
- “viols” frequency rank
- #36,652
- “voles” frequency rank
- 47976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | viols | voles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de viol. | Pluriel de vole. |
Where the eye mixes viols and voles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: viols vs voles
A purely visual mix-up. viols (\vjɔl\) and voles (\vɔl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
viols is recorded at frequency rank #11,324, classified as anoun, pronounced \vjɔl\. voles is at rank #36,652, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔl\.
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 47976, this pair ranks #182,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of viols vs voles
Shared letters: losv. Private to "viols": i. Private to "voles": e.
"viols" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "voles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "viols" and "voles" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "viols" vs "voles" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "viols" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #182,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "viols" and "voles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "voles vs Voss". 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 #182,654 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.