widevswilderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,076
“wide” frequency rank
#36,660
“wilder” frequency rank
69736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wide wilder
Definition Large. Comparatif de wild.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wide and wilder apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
wide
6 ch
wilder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wide (\waɪd\) and wilder (\ˈvɪl.dɐ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wide is recorded at frequency rank #33,076, classified as anadj, pronounced \waɪd\. wilder is at rank #36,660, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈvɪl.dɐ\.

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 69736, this pair ranks #54,018 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wide vs wilder

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wide": -. Private to "wilder": lr.

"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "wilder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wideiwde · wdie · widde · wied · wwide
  • wilderiwlder · widler · wildder · wilderr · wildre · wiledr · willder · wlider

Frequency comparison

wide#33,076
wilder#36,660

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wide" and "wilder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\waɪd\ versus \ˈvɪl.dɐ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wide" or "wilder"?
"wide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,076 in our French list, against #36,660 for "wilder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wide vs wilder

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list