Watch list or watchlist?
watch list is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of watchlist”; watchlist is a noun meaning “A list of people or things that are assigned to receive special attention or…”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. watch list is written as two words and watchlist as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between watch list and watchlist?
| watch list | watchlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of watchlist | A list of people or things that are assigned to receive special attention or monitoring To add to a watchlist |
| Example | none recorded | The police have hundreds of citizens on their watchlists |
| Forms | none | watchlists |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈwɔt͡ʃˌlɪst/ /ˈwɒt͡ʃˌlɪst/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: watch list and watchlist in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of watch list and watchlist
watch list
- 1
Alternative spelling of watchlist
watchlist
- 1
A list of people or things that are assigned to receive special attention or monitoring
The police have hundreds of citizens on their watchlists
- 2
To add to a watchlist
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, watch list or watchlist?
watch list is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; watchlist about once in every 3 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).