vivantsvsvoyantsConfusable pair

Which to use

“vivants” and “voyants” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,903
“vivants” frequency rank
#27,293
“voyants” frequency rank
32196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vivants voyants
Definition Masculin pluriel de vivant. Masculin pluriel de voyant.

Where the eye mixes vivants and voyants

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vivants (CVCVCCC) and voyants (CVVVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
vivants
7 ch
voyants

Why the eye confuses vivants with voyants

A purely visual mix-up. vivants (\vi.vɑ̃\) and voyants (\vwa.jɑ̃\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vivants is recorded at frequency rank #4,903, classified as anadj, pronounced \vi.vɑ̃\. voyants is at rank #27,293, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vwa.jɑ̃\.

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 32196, this pair ranks #298,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vivants vs voyants

Shared letters: anstv. Private to "vivants": i. Private to "voyants": oy.

"vivants" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "voyants" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vivantsivvants · viavnts · vivannts · vivanst · vivantss · vivantts · vivatns · vivnats
  • voyantsovyants · voaynts · voyannts · voyanst · voyantss · voyantts · voyatns · voynats

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vivants" and "voyants" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vi.vɑ̃\ versus \vwa.jɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vivants" vs "voyants" - which ranks higher?
"vivants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,903 in our French list, against #27,293 for "voyants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vivants" and "voyants" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vivants" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voyants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vivants" and "voyants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "volantes vs voyants". 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 #298,869 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list