Which to use
“theirs” is a pronoun and “thirst” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,623
- “theirs” frequency rank
- #12,343
- “thirst” frequency rank
- 19966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | theirs | thirst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun. | A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which stops the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane. |
Where the eye mixes theirs and thirst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. theirs (CCVVCC) and thirst (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses theirs with thirst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: theirs is /ðɛəz/ while thirst is /θɜːst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
theirs is recorded at frequency rank #7,623, classified as apron, pronounced /ðɛəz/. thirst is at rank #12,343, tagged as anoun, pronounced /θɜːst/.
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 19966, this pair ranks #434,452 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of theirs vs thirst
Shared letters: hirst. Private to "theirs": e. Private to "thirst": -.
"theirs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "thirst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "theirs" for "thirst" ever safe?
Frequency check: "theirs" vs "thirst" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "theirs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thirst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,452 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "theirs" and "thirst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "theirs vs theism". 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 #434,452 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.