widestvsWilesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: widest is a adjective, Wiles is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“widest” is an adjective and “Wiles” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,114
“widest” frequency rank
#41,472
“Wiles” frequency rank
62586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widest Wiles
Definition superlative form of wide: most wide A surname transferred from the nickname. A patronymic form of Wile.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
widest
5 ch
Wiles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: widest is anadjective and Wilesaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widest is recorded at frequency rank #21,114, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwaɪdəst/. Wiles is at rank #41,472, tagged as aname.

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 62586, this pair ranks #87,688 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of widest vs Wiles

Shared letters: eisw. Private to "widest": dt. Private to "Wiles": l.

"widest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Wiles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widestiwdest · wdiest · widdest · widesst · widestt · widets · widset · wiedst
  • Wilesiwles · wiels · wiless · willes · wilse · wlies · wwiles

Frequency comparison

widest#21,114
Wiles#41,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "widest" and "Wiles" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "widest" is an adjective and "Wiles" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "widest" or "Wiles"?
"widest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,114 in our English list, against #41,472 for "Wiles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering widest vs Wiles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “widest”; for a name, it's “Wiles”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “widest” 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