Which to use
“ward” and “wear” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,716
- “ward” frequency rank
- #35,332
- “wear” frequency rank
- 49048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ward | wear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du prétérit de l’indicatif à la forme active de werden. | Porter (un vêtement). |
Where the eye mixes ward and wear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ward and wear
A purely visual mix-up. ward (\vaʁt\) and wear (\wɛə\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ward is recorded at frequency rank #13,716, classified as averb, pronounced \vaʁt\. wear is at rank #35,332, tagged as averb, pronounced \wɛə\.
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 49048, this pair ranks #173,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ward vs wear
Shared letters: arw. Private to "ward": d. Private to "wear": e.
"ward" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ward" for "wear" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ward" or "wear"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ward" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ward" and "wear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wear vs wrap". 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 #173,890 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.