Which to use
“wood” and “work” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,743
- “wood” frequency rank
- #116
- “work” frequency rank
- 1859
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wood | work |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Employment. |
Where the eye mixes wood and work
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. wood (/wʊd/) and work (/wɜː(ɹ)k/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1859, 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/. work is at rank #116, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜː(ɹ)k/.
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 1859, this pair ranks #526,459 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wood vs work
Shared letters: ow. Private to "wood": d. Private to "work": kr.
"wood" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "work" · 4 letters · shape CVCC