Which to use
“winch” and “witch” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,701
- “winch” frequency rank
- #6,019
- “witch” frequency rank
- 33720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | winch | witch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable. | A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events. |
Where the eye mixes winch and witch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between winch and witch
A purely visual mix-up. winch (/wɪnt͡ʃ/) 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 differ by a single letter - n in “winch” becomes t in “witch”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
winch is recorded at frequency rank #27,701, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɪnt͡ʃ/. 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 33720, this pair ranks #326,965 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of winch vs witch
Shared letters: chiw. Private to "winch": n. Private to "witch": t.
"winch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "witch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "winch" for "witch" ever safe?
Frequency check: "winch" vs "witch" - which ranks higher?
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 "winch" 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 #326,965 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "winch" and "witch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wicca vs winch". 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 #326,965 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.