Which to use
“width” and “witch” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,977
- “width” frequency rank
- #6,019
- “witch” frequency rank
- 12996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | width | witch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The state of being wide. | A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events. |
Where the eye mixes width and witch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between width and witch
A purely visual mix-up. width (/ˈwɪtθ/) and witch (/wɪt͡ʃ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
width is recorded at frequency rank #6,977, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪtθ/. witch is at rank #6,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪt͡ʃ/.
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 12996, this pair ranks #478,317 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of width vs witch
Shared letters: hitw. Private to "width": d. Private to "witch": c.
"width" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "witch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "width" for "witch" ever safe?
Which is more common, "width" or "witch"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "width" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "witch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #478,317 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "width" and "witch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "width vs Wyeth". 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 #478,317 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.