wolfvswordWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,257
“wolf” frequency rank
#13,379
“word” frequency rank
27636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wolf word
Definition Lobo Palabra.

Where the eye mixes wolf and word

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
wolf
4 ch
word

Why the eye confuses wolf with word

A purely visual mix-up. wolf (/wʊlf/) and word (/wɜːd/) 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 27636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wolf is recorded at frequency rank #14,257, classified as anoun, pronounced /wʊlf/. word is at rank #13,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːd/.

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 27636, this pair ranks #225,886 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wolf vs word

Shared letters: ow. Private to "wolf": fl. Private to "word": dr.

"wolf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "word" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wolfowlf · wlof · wofl · wolff · wollf · wwolf
  • wordowrd · wodr · wordd · worrd · wrod · wword

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wolf" for "word" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/wʊlf/ versus /wɜːd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wolf" or "word"?
"word" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,379 in our Spanish list, against #14,257 for "wolf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "wolf" and "word" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wolf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "word" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,886 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wolf" and "word" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "word vs worry". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #225,886 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list