wildsvswiltWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#33,088
“wilds” frequency rank
#21,980
“wilt” frequency rank
55068
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wilds wilt
Definition plural of wild To droop or become limp and flaccid (as a dying leaf or flower).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wilds and wilt apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
wilds
4 ch
wilt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: wilds is anoun and wiltaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wilds is recorded at frequency rank #33,088, classified as anoun. wilt is at rank #21,980, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɪlt/.

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 55068, this pair ranks #136,389 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wilds vs wilt

Shared letters: ilw. Private to "wilds": ds. Private to "wilt": t.

"wilds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wildsiwlds · widls · wildds · wildss · willds · wilsd · wlids · wwilds
  • wiltiwlt · willt · wiltt · witl · wlit · wwilt

Frequency comparison

wilds#33,088
wilt#21,980

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wilds" and "wilt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wilds" is a noun and "wilt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wilds" or "wilt"?
"wilt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,980 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 wilds vs wilt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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