Which to use
“width” and “wits” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,977
- “width” frequency rank
- #19,257
- “wits” frequency rank
- 26234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | width | wits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The state of being wide. | plural of wit |
Where the eye mixes width and wits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses width with wits
A purely visual mix-up. width (/ˈwɪtθ/) and wits (/wɪts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26234, 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/. 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 26234, this pair ranks #388,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of width vs wits
Shared letters: itw. Private to "width": dh. Private to "wits": s.
"width" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "width" and "wits" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "width" or "wits"?
What to do next
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 "wits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #388,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "width" and "wits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wim vs wits". 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 #388,212 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.