what'd
/wʌd/
"what-d" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“what'd” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,652. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #30,652
- frequency rank, English
- 12,113
- “W” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Contraction of what + did.
Corpus desk
Index EN-what-d · what'd · English
what'd · rank #30,652 · 9 variants · 6 confusables
- FREQ-MID #30,652
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 12,113
- PHOTO-FINISH Westinghouse
Nearest frequency peer: Westinghouse (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “what'd”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Westinghouse
Westinghouse
69,350 corpus weight
- what'd
what'd
69,349 corpus weight
- whirl
whirl
69,348 corpus weight
- widget
widget
69,347 corpus weight
- wineries
wineries
69,346 corpus weight
- Witt
Witt
69,345 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “what'd” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | what'd |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Contraction |
| IPA | /wʌd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #30,652 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “what'd” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around what'd (IPA /wʌd/), acontraction. Corpus frequency is #30,652 among 12,113 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for what'd, with forms such as "hwat'd", "waht'd", and "wha'td". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "whats", "who'd", "why'd", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is what'd, spelled W-H-A-T-'-D.
Definition
- 1Contraction of what + did.
- 2Contraction of what + would.
- 3Contraction of what + had.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hwat'd
- waht'd
- wha'td
- what'dd
- whatd'
- whatt'd
- whhat'd
- whta'd
- wwhat'd
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of what'd - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "what'd"?
What does "what'd" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "what'd", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
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.