wokvswoldWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wok” and “wold” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,773
“wok” frequency rank
#42,997
“wold” frequency rank
80770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wok wold
Definition A large, round-bottomed cooking pan used in East Asian cooking. An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wok and wold apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
wok
4 ch
wold

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wok (/wɒk/) and wold (/wəʊld/) 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 80770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wok is recorded at frequency rank #37,773, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɒk/. wold is at rank #42,997, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wəʊld/.

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 80770, this pair ranks #19,108 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wok vs wold

Shared letters: ow. Private to "wok": k. Private to "wold": dl.

"wok" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "wold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • woldowld · wlod · wodl · woldd · wolld · wwold

Frequency comparison

wok#37,773
wold#42,997

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wok" and "wold" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/wɒk/ versus /wəʊld/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wok" or "wold"?
"wok" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,773 in our English list, against #42,997 for "wold". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wok vs wold

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wok” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list