threw
/θɹuː/
"threw" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“threw” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,266 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,266
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past of throw
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 | threw |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /θɹuː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,266 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “threw” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for threw is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /θɹuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,266 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for threw, with forms such as "htrew", "therw", and "thhrew". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tre", "tree", "tire", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English threw, from Old English þrēaw (first and third person past tense of þrāwan), from West Germanic *þreu, from Northwest Germanic *þrerō, from Proto-Germanic *þeþrō (first and third person past tense of *þrēaną), reduplication of *þrēaną. The correct English form is threw, spelled T-H-R-E-W.
Definition
- 1simple past of throw
- 2past participle of throw
Etymology
From Middle English threw, from Old English þrēaw (first and third person past tense of þrāwan), from West Germanic *þreu, from Northwest Germanic *þrerō, from Proto-Germanic *þeþrō (first and third person past tense of *þrēaną), reduplication of *þrēaną.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htrew,therw,thhrew,threww,thrrew,thrwe,trhew,tthrew
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of threw - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “threw”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-R-E-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /θɹuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tre” - see the side-by-side comparison. threw vs tre
- 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.