Which to use
“voile” is a noun and “voilier” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,653
- “voile” frequency rank
- #17,845
- “voilier” frequency rank
- 20498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | voile | voilier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Large pièce de tissu assurant la propulsion des navires ou des moulins, par la force du vent. | Bien ou mal muni de voiles. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set voile and voilier apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
voile and voilier form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
voile is recorded at frequency rank #2,653, classified as anoun, pronounced \vwal\. voilier is at rank #17,845, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vwa.lje\.
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 20498, this pair ranks #367,978 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "voile" and "voilier" be used interchangeably?
Remembering voile vs voilier
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “voile”; for an adjective, it's “voilier”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voile” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable