Which to use
“wid” is a preposition and “wits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,993
- “wid” frequency rank
- #19,257
- “wits” frequency rank
- 62250
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wid | wits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pronunciation spelling of with. | plural of wit |
Where the eye mixes wid and wits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. wid runs 3 letters (CVC) against wits's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: wid vs wits
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wid is /wɪd/ while wits is /wɪts/. 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 62250, 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/. wits is at rank #19,257, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪts/.
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 62250, this pair ranks #89,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wid vs wits
Shared letters: iw. Private to "wid": d. Private to "wits": st.
"wid" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "wits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wits ← iwts · wist · witss · witts · wtis · wwits
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wid" for "wits" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wid" or "wits"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wid" and "wits" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wid" and "wits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wid vs WYO". 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 #89,540 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.