wickedvswiltedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,305
“wicked” frequency rank
#47,423
“wilted” frequency rank
54728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wicked wilted
Definition Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible. Drooping, typically due to lack of water.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wicked and wilted apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wicked
6 ch
wilted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

wicked and wilted are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wicked is recorded at frequency rank #7,305, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪkɪd/. wilted is at rank #47,423, tagged as anadj.

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 54728, this pair ranks #138,866 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wicked vs wilted

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wicked": ck. Private to "wilted": lt.

"wicked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wilted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wickediwcked · wciked · wiccked · wicekd · wickde · wickedd · wickked · wikced
  • wiltediwlted · wiletd · willted · wiltde · wiltedd · wiltted · witled · wlited

Frequency comparison

wicked#7,305
wilted#47,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wicked" and "wilted" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "wicked" or "wilted"?
"wicked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,305 in our English list, against #47,423 for "wilted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wicked vs wilted

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wicked” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list