Which to use
“worldly” is an adjective and “worlds” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,738
- “worldly” frequency rank
- #4,910
- “worlds” frequency rank
- 23648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | worldly | worlds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual. | plural of world |
Where the eye mixes worldly and worlds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses worldly with worlds
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: worldly is /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/ while worlds is /wɝldz/. 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 23648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
worldly is recorded at frequency rank #18,738, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/. worlds is at rank #4,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɝldz/.
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 23648, this pair ranks #407,782 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of worldly vs worlds
Shared letters: dlorw. Private to "worldly": y. Private to "worlds": s.
"worldly" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV · "worlds" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "worldly" and "worlds" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "worldly" or "worlds"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "worldly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worlds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,782 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "worldly" and "worlds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wordy vs worldly". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #407,782 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.