Which to use
“worst” is an adjective and “wot” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,259
- “worst” frequency rank
- #28,090
- “wot” frequency rank
- 29349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | worst | wot |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superlative form of bad: most bad | To know (in the sense of knowing a fact). |
Where the eye mixes worst and wot
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: worst is /wɜːst/ while wot is /wɔt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 29349, 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/. wot is at rank #28,090, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɔt/.
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 29349, this pair ranks #363,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of worst vs wot
Shared letters: otw. Private to "worst": rs. Private to "wot": -.
"worst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wot" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- worst ← owrst · worrst · worsst · worstt · worts · wosrt · wrost · wworst