Which to use
“thirst” is a noun and “thirsty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,343
- “thirst” frequency rank
- #10,623
- “thirsty” frequency rank
- 22966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thirst | thirsty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Needing to drink water or any liquid that can supply water. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thirst and thirsty apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
thirst and thirsty form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “thirst” sits inside “thirsty” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thirst is recorded at frequency rank #12,343, classified as anoun, pronounced /θɜːst/. thirsty is at rank #10,623, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈθɝs.ti/.
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 22966, this pair ranks #412,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thirst" and "thirsty" be used interchangeably?
Remembering thirst vs thirsty
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “thirst”; for an adjective, it's “thirsty”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thirst” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable