wordyvsworeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wordy is a adjective, wore is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wordy” is an adjective and “wore” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,727
“wordy” frequency rank
#4,422
“wore” frequency rank
54149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wordy wore
Definition Using an excessive number of words. simple past of wear

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wordy and wore apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
wordy
4 ch
wore

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wordy is /ˈwɝdi/ while wore is /wɔː/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wordy is recorded at frequency rank #49,727, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɝdi/. wore is at rank #4,422, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɔː/.

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 54149, this pair ranks #143,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wordy vs wore

Shared letters: orw. Private to "wordy": dy. Private to "wore": e.

"wordy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wordyowrdy · wodry · worddy · wordyy · worrdy · woryd · wrody · wwordy
  • woreowre · woer · worre · wroe · wwore

Frequency comparison

wordy#49,727
wore#4,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wordy" and "wore" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wordy" is an adjective and "wore" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wordy" or "wore"?
"wore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,422 in our English list, against #49,727 for "wordy". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wordy vs wore

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wordy”; for a verb, it's “wore”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wordy” 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