worm

/wɜːm/

//wɜːm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"worm" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“worm” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,156. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,156
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-worm · worm · English

worm · rank #10,156 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,156
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wheeler

Nearest frequency peer: wheeler (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “worm”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “worm” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

worm vs wow
50% similar
worm vs wot
50% similar
worm vs wry
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for worm
PropertyValue
Headwordworm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wɜːm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#10,156
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “worm”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).wormlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “wheeler” (#10,155), “whales” (#10,154), “accountant” (#10,158). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “worm” is #10,156. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around worm (IPA /wɜːm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,156 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 19 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for worm, with forms such as "owrm", "womr", and "wormm". 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, "wow", "wot", "wry", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing d… The correct English form is worm, spelled W-O-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
  2. 2
    More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms.
  3. 3
    Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.
  4. 4
    A type of wingless "dragon", especially a gigantic sea serpent or any kind of dragon.
  5. 5
    A type of wingless "dragon", especially a gigantic sea serpent or any kind of dragon.
  6. 6
    A contemptible or devious being.
  7. 7
    A self-replicating program that propagates through a network, differing from a virus in usually lacking any destructive effects.
  8. 8
    A graphical representation of the total runs scored across a number of overs.
  9. 9
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  10. 10
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  11. 11
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  12. 12
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  13. 13
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  14. 14
    Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
  15. 15
    A maggot or any other insect larva with similar shape and behavior.
  16. 16
    An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one’s mind with remorse.
  17. 17
    A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.
  18. 18
    The lytta.
  19. 19
    A dance, or dance move, in which the dancer lies on the floor and undulates the body horizontally thereby moving forwards.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how worm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’
  2. Leaning that I might eat, I stretched and clung Over the shapeless depth in which those corpses hung. A woman’s shape, now lank and cold and blue, The dwelling of the many-coloured worm, Hung there […]

Etymology

From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English. (computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider. Cognates Germanic cognates include Dutch worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Swedish orm (“snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk orm (“earthworm or snake”), Danish orm and Yiddish וואָרעם (vorem). Indo-European cognates include Latin vermis (“worm”), Lithuanian var̃mas (“insect, midge”), Albanian rrime (“rainworm”), Ancient Greek ῥόμος (rhómos, “woodworm”).

This word in other languages

gusano(Español)ver(Français)Wurm(Deutsch)verme(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • owrm
  • womr
  • wormm
  • worrm
  • wrom
  • wworm

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of worm - 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.

owrm2womr2wormm1worrm1wrom2wworm1
Edit distance from "worm"

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 "worm"?
"worm" is spelled W-O-R-M. The IPA pronunciation is /wɜːm/.
What does "worm" mean?
As a noun, "worm" means: A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
What words are commonly confused with "worm"?
"worm" is commonly confused with "wow", "wot", "wry". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "worm"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "worm" is /wɜːm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "worm"?
From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent b... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "worm", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Webb#10,152vein#10,148cane#10,175cons#10,183

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

scar6 variantsprop6 variantspads6 variantsgram6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list