widvswoldWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,993
“wid” frequency rank
#42,997
“wold” frequency rank
85990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wid wold
Definition Pronunciation spelling of with. An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
wid
4 ch
wold

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wid is /wɪd/ while wold is /wəʊld/. 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 85990, 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/. wold is at rank #42,997, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wəʊld/.

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 85990, this pair ranks #9,564 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wid vs wold

Shared letters: dw. Private to "wid": i. Private to "wold": lo.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • woldowld · wlod · wodl · woldd · wolld · wwold

Frequency comparison

wid#42,993
wold#42,997

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wid" and "wold" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wid" is a preposition and "wold" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wid" or "wold"?
"wid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,993 in our English list, against #42,997 for "wold". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wid vs wold

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 “wold”.
  • 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