wow
/waʊ/
"wow" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wow” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,178) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #1,178
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wow · wow · English
wow · rank #1,178 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,178
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH wide
Nearest frequency peer: wide (-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 “wow”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- subject
subject
98,826 corpus weight
- train
train
98,825 corpus weight
- wide
wide
98,824 corpus weight
- wow
wow
98,823 corpus weight
- author
author
98,822 corpus weight
- centre
centre
98,821 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “wow” 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 | wow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /waʊ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #1,178 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wow” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for wow is neighbouring look-alikes ("Wu", "wt", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced /waʊ/. Frequency #1,178 among 1,759 “W” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
No misspelling variants are generated for wow in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Wu", "wt", "WS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since the 16th century; borrowed from Scots wow; ultimately a natural exclamation. The correct English form is wow, spelled W-O-W.
Definition
- 1An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.
- 2An expression of amazement, awe, or admiration.
- 3Used sarcastically to express disapproval of something.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Wow, I sure was surprised!
Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.
Etymology
Attested since the 16th century; borrowed from Scots wow; ultimately a natural exclamation.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wow", not the corpus desk frequency band.
What to do next
You've looked up "wow". Here's where to go from here.
- "wow" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Wu". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #1,178 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "W" letter cohort. W–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.