Which to use
“word” is a noun and “worry” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #555
- “word” frequency rank
- #1,548
- “worry” frequency rank
- 2103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | word | worry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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.) | To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt. |
Where the eye mixes word and worry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: word is /wɜːd/ while worry is /ˈwʌ.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
word is recorded at frequency rank #555, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɜːd/. worry is at rank #1,548, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈwʌ.ɹi/.
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 2103, this pair ranks #525,851 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of word vs worry
Shared letters: orw. Private to "word": d. Private to "worry": y.
"word" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "worry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV