Which to use
“word” and “work” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,379
- “word” frequency rank
- #14,739
- “work” frequency rank
- 28118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | word | work |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Palabra. | Trabajo. |
Where the eye mixes word and work
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: word vs work
A purely visual mix-up. word (/wɜːd/) and work (/wɜːk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “word” becomes k in “work”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
word is recorded at frequency rank #13,379, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɜːd/. work is at rank #14,739, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːk/.
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 28118, this pair ranks #223,536 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of word vs work
Shared letters: orw. Private to "word": d. Private to "work": k.
"word" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "work" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "word" and "work" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "word" vs "work" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "word" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "work" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,536 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "word" and "work" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "work 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 #223,536 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.