Which to use
“witted” and “witty” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,749
- “witted” frequency rank
- #13,843
- “witty” frequency rank
- 48592
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | witted | witty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | having a specified form of wit (intellectual ability) | Clever; amusingly ingenious. |
Where the eye mixes witted and witty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. witted runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against witty's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses witted with witty
A purely visual mix-up. witted (/ˈwɪtɪd/) and witty (/ˈwɪti/) 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 48592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
witted is recorded at frequency rank #34,749, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪtɪd/. witty is at rank #13,843, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪti/.
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 48592, this pair ranks #191,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of witted vs witty
Shared letters: itw. Private to "witted": de. Private to "witty": y.
"witted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "witty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "witted" and "witty" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "witted" or "witty"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "witted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "witty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "witted" and "witty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wilted vs witted". 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 #191,603 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.