wimp
/wɪmp/
"wimp" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wimp” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #40,974 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #40,974
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Someone who lacks confidence or courage, is weak, ineffectual, irresolute and wishy-washy.
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 | wimp |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /wɪmp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #40,974 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wimp” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wimp is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /wɪmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #40,974 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Someone who lacks confidence or courage, is weak, ineffectual, irresolute and wishy-washy.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for wimp, with forms such as "iwmp", "wimmp", and "wimpp". 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, "win", "wit", "wis", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly a clipping of whimper. The term was understood in the United States by the 1930s, as it was incorporated into the names of two famous media characters known for living up to that name: The devious but cowardly Popeye supporting-character called "J.… The correct English form is wimp, spelled W-I-M-P.
Definition
- 1Someone who lacks confidence or courage, is weak, ineffectual, irresolute and wishy-washy.
Etymology
Possibly a clipping of whimper. The term was understood in the United States by the 1930s, as it was incorporated into the names of two famous media characters known for living up to that name: The devious but cowardly Popeye supporting-character called "J. Wellington Wimpy", and the soft-spoken character "Wallace Wimple" from the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwmp,wimmp,wimpp,wipm,wmip,wwimp
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wimp - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “wimp”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-M-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /wɪmp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “win” - see the side-by-side comparison. wimp vs win
- 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.