Which to use
“world” and “worms” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,200
- “world” frequency rank
- #35,777
- “worms” frequency rank
- 39977
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | world | worms |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Monde, univers, Terre. | Pluriel de worm. |
Where the eye mixes world and worms
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses world with worms
A purely visual mix-up. world (\ˈwɝld\) and worms (\wɜːms\) 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 39977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
world is recorded at frequency rank #4,200, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɝld\. worms is at rank #35,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced \wɜːms\.
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 39977, this pair ranks #243,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of world vs worms
Shared letters: orw. Private to "world": dl. Private to "worms": ms.
"world" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "worms" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "world" for "worms" ever safe?
Which is more common, "world" or "worms"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "world" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worms" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "world" and "worms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "worlds vs worms". 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 #243,934 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.