websvswigsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“webs” and “wigs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,306
“webs” frequency rank
#21,115
“wigs” frequency rank
47421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature webs wigs
Definition plural of web plural of wig

Where the eye mixes webs and wigs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
webs
4 ch
wigs

Look-alike desk: webs vs wigs

A purely visual mix-up. webs (/wɛbz/) and wigs (/wɪɡz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

webs is recorded at frequency rank #26,306, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɛbz/. wigs is at rank #21,115, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪɡz/.

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 47421, this pair ranks #202,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of webs vs wigs

Shared letters: sw. Private to "webs": be. Private to "wigs": gi.

"webs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wigs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • websewbs · wbes · webbs · webss · wesb · wwebs
  • wigsiwgs · wgis · wiggs · wigss · wisg · wwigs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "webs" for "wigs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/wɛbz/ versus /wɪɡz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "webs" or "wigs" show up more?
"wigs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,115 in our English list, against #26,306 for "webs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "webs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wigs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #202,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "webs" and "wigs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "webs vs werk". 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 #202,636 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list