widevswildWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wide” and “wild” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,068
“wide” frequency rank
#17,846
“wild” frequency rank
44914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wide wild
Definition Ancho. Salvaje.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wide and wild apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
wide
4 ch
wild

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wide (/waɪd/) and wild ([vɪlt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wide is recorded at frequency rank #27,068, classified as anadj, pronounced /waɪd/. wild is at rank #17,846, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vɪlt].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 44914, this pair ranks #134,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wide vs wild

Shared letters: diw. Private to "wide": e. Private to "wild": l.

"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "wild" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wideiwde · wdie · widde · wied · wwide
  • wildiwld · widl · wildd · willd · wlid · wwild

Frequency comparison

wide#27,068
wild#17,846

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wide" and "wild" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/waɪd/ versus [vɪlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wide" or "wild"?
"wild" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,846 in our Spanish list, against #27,068 for "wide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wide vs wild

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wide” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list