Which to use
“wilt” is a verb and “wire” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,980
- “wilt” frequency rank
- #3,460
- “wire” frequency rank
- 25440
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wilt | wire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To droop or become limp and flaccid (as a dying leaf or flower). | Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. |
Where the eye mixes wilt and wire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wilt vs wire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wilt is /wɪlt/ while wire is /waɪə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wilt is recorded at frequency rank #21,980, classified as averb, pronounced /wɪlt/. wire is at rank #3,460, tagged as anoun, pronounced /waɪə(ɹ)/.
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 25440, this pair ranks #394,261 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wilt vs wire
Shared letters: iw. Private to "wilt": lt. Private to "wire": er.
"wilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wilt" and "wire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "wilt" or "wire" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,261 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wilt" and "wire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wilt vs wilted". 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 #394,261 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.