thirst
/θɜːst/
"thirst" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thirst” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,343 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,343
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which stops the secretion of th...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thirst |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /θɜːst/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,343 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thirst” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thirst is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /θɜːst/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,343 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for thirst, with forms such as "htirst", "thhirst", and "thirrst". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "this", "twist", "thirty", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thirst, thurst, from Old English þurst, from Proto-West Germanic *þurstu, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”). Germanic cognates include Old High German thurst, Middle High German durst, German Durst, Ol… The correct English form is thirst, spelled T-H-I-R-S-T.
Definition
- 1A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which stops the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane.
- 2The condition producing the sensation of thirst.
- 3A want and eager desire (for something); a craving or longing.
- 4Sexual lust.
Etymology
From Middle English thirst, thurst, from Old English þurst, from Proto-West Germanic *þurstu, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”). Germanic cognates include Old High German thurst, Middle High German durst, German Durst, Old Saxon thurst, Old Dutch thursti, Middle Dutch dorst, dorste, Dutch dorst, Old Norse þorsti (Swedish törst, Icelandic þorsti, Danish tørst, Norwegian tørst). Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek τέρσομαι (térsomai), Albanian djersë (“sweat”), Sanskrit तृष्णा (tṛṣṇā, “desire; thirst”), Sanskrit तृष्यति (tṛ́ṣyati), Latin terra, Latin torridus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htirst,thhirst,thirrst,thirsst,thirstt,thirts,thisrt,thrist,tihrst,tthirst
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thirst - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "thirst"?
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Using “thirst”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-I-R-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /θɜːst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “this” - see the side-by-side comparison. thirst vs this
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.