Which to use
“worst” is an adjective and “wort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,259
- “worst” frequency rank
- #33,912
- “wort” frequency rank
- 35171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | worst | wort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superlative form of bad: most bad | Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine. |
Where the eye mixes worst and wort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: worst is /wɜːst/ 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 35171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
worst is recorded at frequency rank #1,259, classified as anadj, pronounced /wɜːst/. 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 35171, this pair ranks #314,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of worst vs wort
Shared letters: ortw. Private to "worst": s. Private to "wort": -.
"worst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC