Wilde
/ˈwaɪld/
"wilde" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Wilde” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,623 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #16,623
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Middle English.
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 | Wilde |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈwaɪld/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,623 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Wilde” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Wilde is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwaɪld/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,623 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Wilde, with forms such as "iwlde", "widle", and "wildde". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "will", "wind", "wine", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is Wilde, spelled W-I-L-D-E.
Definition
- 1A surname from Middle English.
- 2A surname from Middle English.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwlde,widle,wildde,wiled,willde,wlide,wwilde
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Wilde - 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
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Using “Wilde”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-L-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwaɪld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “will” - see the side-by-side comparison. Wilde vs will
- 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.