Which to use
“wishes” and “withers” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,994
- “wishes” frequency rank
- #29,892
- “withers” frequency rank
- 33886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wishes | withers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of wish | The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height. |
Where the eye mixes wishes and withers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses wishes with withers
A purely visual mix-up. wishes (/ˈwɪʃɪz/) and withers (/ˈwɪð.ɚz/) 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 33886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wishes is recorded at frequency rank #3,994, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪʃɪz/. withers is at rank #29,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪð.ɚz/.
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 33886, this pair ranks #325,513 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wishes vs withers
Shared letters: ehisw. Private to "wishes": -. Private to "withers": rt.
"wishes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "withers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wishes" and "withers" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wishes" or "withers"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wishes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "withers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,513 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wishes" and "withers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Watters vs withers". 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 #325,513 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.