Which to use
“wort” is a noun and “worth” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,912
- “wort” frequency rank
- #726
- “worth” frequency rank
- 34638
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wort | worth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine. | Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wort and worth apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wort is /wɜːt/ while worth is /wɜːθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “wort” sits inside “worth”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wort is recorded at frequency rank #33,912, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɜːt/. worth is at rank #726, tagged as anadj, pronounced /wɜːθ/.
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 34638, this pair ranks #319,035 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wort vs worth
Shared letters: ortw. Private to "wort": -. Private to "worth": h.
"wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "worth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wort" and "worth" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wort" or "worth"?
Remembering wort vs worth
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “wort”; for an adjective, it's “worth”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wort” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable