worthwhile

Name: worthwhile, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/

//ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“worthwhile” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,638. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,638
frequency rank, English: 1,759
“W” headwords: 16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on.

Corpus desk

Index EN-worthwhile · worthwhile · English

worthwhile · rank #10,638 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #10,638
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 16 variants
BOOK-MID 1,759
PHOTO-FINISH whisper

Nearest frequency peer: whisper (-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.

violin

89,367
whereby

89,365
whisper

89,364
worthwhile

89,363
acceleration

89,361
aerospace

89,360

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

Key facts for worthwhile
Property	Value
Headword	worthwhile
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#10,638
Misspellings tracked	16
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “worthwhile”

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).worthwhilelands here:

#10,638

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “whisper” (#10,637), “whereby” (#10,636), “acceleration” (#10,640). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “worthwhile” is #10,638. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around worthwhile (IPA /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #10,638 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for worthwhile, with forms such as "owrthwhile", "worhtwhile", and "worrthwhile". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From worth (adjective) + while (noun). The correct English form is worthwhile, spelled W-O-R-T-H-W-H-I-L-E.

Definition

1
Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

Doing volunteer work to help others is truly worthwhile.

Etymology

From worth (adjective) + while (noun).

Synonyms

worth it

This word in other languages

lohnend(Deutsch)vantajoso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

owrthwhile
worhtwhile
worrthwhile
worthhwhile
worthhwile
worthwhhile
worthwhiel
worthwhille
worthwhlie
worthwihle
worthwwhile
wortthwhile
wortwhhile
wotrhwhile
wrothwhile
wworthwhile

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "worthwhile"

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 "worthwhile"?

"worthwhile" is spelled W-O-R-T-H-W-H-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/.

What does "worthwhile" mean?

As an adjective, "worthwhile" means: Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on.

What are common misspellings of "worthwhile"?

Common misspellings include "owrthwhile", "worhtwhile", "worrthwhile", "worthhwhile", "worthhwile". The correct spelling is "worthwhile".

How do you pronounce "worthwhile"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "worthwhile" is /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/. 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 "worthwhile"?

From worth (adjective) + while (noun). 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 "worthwhile", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

analytical#10,645 anticipate#10,646 sweetheart#10,619 ceremonies#10,660

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

acceleration16 variants contention16 variants discoveries16 variants frightened16 variants