Which to use
“wood” and “word” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,743
- “wood” frequency rank
- #555
- “word” frequency rank
- 2298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wood | word |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel. | The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language. (contrast morpheme.) |
Where the eye mixes wood and word
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. wood (/wʊd/) and word (/wɜːd/) 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 a single letter - o in “wood” becomes r in “word”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wood is recorded at frequency rank #1,743, classified as anoun, pronounced /wʊd/. word is at rank #555, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːd/.
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 2298, this pair ranks #525,324 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wood vs word
Shared letters: dow. Private to "wood": -. Private to "word": r.
"wood" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "word" · 4 letters · shape CVCC