wordyvswortWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,727
“wordy” frequency rank
#33,912
“wort” frequency rank
83639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wordy wort
Definition Using an excessive number of words. Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
wordy
4 ch
wort

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wordy is /ˈwɝdi/ while wort is /wɜːt/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83639, 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/. wort is at rank #33,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːt/.

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 83639, this pair ranks #13,401 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wordy vs wort

Shared letters: orw. Private to "wordy": dy. Private to "wort": t.

"wordy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wordyowrdy · wodry · worddy · wordyy · worrdy · woryd · wrody · wwordy
  • wortowrt · worrt · wortt · wotr · wrot · wwort

Frequency comparison

wordy#49,727
wort#33,912

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wordy" and "wort" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wordy" is an adjective and "wort" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wordy" or "wort"?
"wort" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,912 in our English list, against #49,727 for "wordy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wordy vs wort

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wordy”; for a noun, it's “wort”.
  • 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