wildestvswildsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wildest is a adjective, wilds is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wildest” is an adjective and “wilds” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,424
“wildest” frequency rank
#33,088
“wilds” frequency rank
54512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wildest wilds
Definition superlative form of wild: most wild plural of wild

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wildest and wilds apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
wildest
5 ch
wilds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: wildest is anadjective and wildsanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wildest is recorded at frequency rank #21,424, classified as anadj. wilds is at rank #33,088, tagged as anoun.

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 54512, this pair ranks #140,524 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wildest vs wilds

Shared letters: dilsw. Private to "wildest": et. Private to "wilds": -.

"wildest" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "wilds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wildestiwldest · widlest · wilddest · wildesst · wildestt · wildets · wildset · wiledst
  • wildsiwlds · widls · wildds · wildss · willds · wilsd · wlids · wwilds

Frequency comparison

wildest#21,424
wilds#33,088

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wildest" and "wilds" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wildest" is an adjective and "wilds" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wildest" or "wilds"?
"wildest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,424 in our English list, against #33,088 for "wilds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wildest vs wilds

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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