worldsvswormsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,083
“worlds” frequency rank
#35,777
“worms” frequency rank
75860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature worlds worms
Definition Pluriel de world. Pluriel de worm.

Where the eye mixes worlds and worms

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
worlds
5 ch
worms

Look-alike desk: worlds vs worms

A purely visual mix-up. worlds (\ˈwɝldz\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

worlds is recorded at frequency rank #40,083, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɝldz\. 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 75860, this pair ranks #32,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of worlds vs worms

Shared letters: orsw. Private to "worlds": dl. Private to "worms": m.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • worldsowrlds · wolrds · wordls · worldds · worldss · worllds · worlsd · worrlds
  • wormsowrms · womrs · wormms · wormss · worrms · worsm · wroms · wworms

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "worlds" for "worms" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ˈwɝldz\ versus \wɜːms\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "worlds" or "worms"?
"worms" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,777 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "worlds" and "worms" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "worlds" 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 #32,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "worlds" and "worms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "works vs worlds". 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 #32,807 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list