Which to use
“thirst” is a noun and “thirty” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,343
- “thirst” frequency rank
- #3,791
- “thirty” frequency rank
- 16134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thirst | thirty |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | The cardinal number occurring after twenty-nine and before thirty-one, represented in Arabic numerals as 30. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thirst and thirty apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thirst is /θɜːst/ while thirty is /ˈθɜːti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16134, 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/. thirty is at rank #3,791, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈθɜːti/.
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 16134, this pair ranks #459,668 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thirst vs thirty
Shared letters: hirt. Private to "thirst": s. Private to "thirty": y.
"thirst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "thirty" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thirst" and "thirty" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "thirst" or "thirty"?
Remembering thirst vs thirty
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “thirst”; for a num, it's “thirty”.
- 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