widvswigsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wid is a preposition, wigs is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wid” is a preposition and “wigs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,993
“wid” frequency rank
#21,115
“wigs” frequency rank
64108
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wid wigs
Definition Pronunciation spelling of with. plural of wig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wid and wigs apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
wid
4 ch
wigs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wid is /wɪd/ while wigs is /wɪɡz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wid is recorded at frequency rank #42,993, classified as aprep, pronounced /wɪd/. 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 64108, this pair ranks #79,436 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wid vs wigs

Shared letters: iw. Private to "wid": d. Private to "wigs": gs.

"wid" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "wigs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wigsiwgs · wgis · wiggs · wigss · wisg · wwigs

Frequency comparison

wid#42,993
wigs#21,115

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wid" and "wigs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wid" is a preposition and "wigs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wid" or "wigs"?
"wigs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,115 in our English list, against #42,993 for "wid". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wid vs wigs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “wid”; for a noun, it's “wigs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wid” 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