works vs worlds, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#28,411
“works” frequency rank: #40,083
“worlds” frequency rank: 68494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	works	worlds
Definition	Pluriel de work (« travail, œuvre »).	Pluriel de world.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

works

6 ch

worlds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. works (\ˈwɝks\) and worlds (\ˈwɝldz\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

works is recorded at frequency rank #28,411, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɝks\. worlds is at rank #40,083, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɝldz\.

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 68494, this pair ranks #58,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of works vs worlds

Shared letters: orsw. Private to "works": k. Private to "worlds": dl.

"works" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "worlds" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

works ← owrks · wokrs · workks · workss · worrks · worsk · wroks · wworks
worlds ← owrlds · wolrds · wordls · worldds · worldss · worllds · worlsd · worrlds

Frequency comparison

works#28,411

worlds#40,083

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "works" and "worlds" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ˈwɝks\ versus \ˈwɝldz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "works" or "worlds"?

"works" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,411 in our French list, against #40,083 for "worlds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering works vs worlds

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 “works” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable