witsvswtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wits is a noun, wt is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wits” is a noun and “wt” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,257
“wits” frequency rank
#18,227
“wt” frequency rank
37484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wits wt
Definition plural of wit Abbreviation of with.

Letter map: wits vs wt

Shared letters muted; letters that set wits and wt apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
wits
2 ch
wt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: wits is anoun and wtapreposition. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wits is recorded at frequency rank #19,257, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɪts/. wt is at rank #18,227, tagged as aprep.

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 37484, this pair ranks #294,193 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wits vs wt

Shared letters: tw. Private to "wits": is. Private to "wt": -.

"wits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wt" · 2 letters · shape CC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • witsiwts · wist · witss · witts · wtis · wwits

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wits" and "wt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wits" is a noun and "wt" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wits" or "wt"?
"wt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,227 in our English list, against #19,257 for "wits". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "wits" and "wt". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wits" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,193 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wits" and "wt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wt vs WYO". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list