Which to use
“worn” is an adjective and “wort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,644
- “worn” frequency rank
- #33,912
- “wort” frequency rank
- 38556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | worn | wort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Damaged and shabby as a result of much use. | Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine. |
Where the eye mixes worn and wort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between worn and wort
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: worn is /wɔːn/ while wort is /wɜːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “worn” becomes t in “wort”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
worn is recorded at frequency rank #4,644, classified as anadj, pronounced /wɔːn/. 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 38556, this pair ranks #284,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of worn vs wort
Shared letters: orw. Private to "worn": n. Private to "wort": t.
"worn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "worn" and "wort" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "worn" vs "wort" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "worn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "worn" and "wort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wort vs wove". 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 #284,862 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.