Which to use
“wok” and “worm” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,773
- “wok” frequency rank
- #10,156
- “worm” frequency rank
- 47929
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wok | worm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large, round-bottomed cooking pan used in East Asian cooking. | A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm. |
Where the eye mixes wok and worm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wok vs worm
A purely visual mix-up. wok (/wɒk/) and worm (/wɜːm/) 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 47929, 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/. worm is at rank #10,156, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːm/.
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 47929, this pair ranks #197,867 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wok vs worm
Shared letters: ow. Private to "wok": k. Private to "worm": mr.
"wok" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "worm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- worm ← owrm · womr · wormm · worrm · wrom · wworm
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wok" and "worm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wok" or "worm"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wok" and "worm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wok" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,867 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wok" and "worm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wok vs wove". 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 #197,867 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.