WW

Writing & Everyday abbreviation · Proofreading and Correction Mark

WW
Stands forWrong word
CategoriesWriting & Everyday

WW stands for Wrong word, a proofreading and correction mark abbreviation.

Tells the writer that a word is incorrect for the context, often one of a confused pair such as "affect/effect," "then/than" or "their/there." It may also mark a word with the wrong connotation.

Example: WW was scrawled above "then" in "taller then her brother" and above "except" in "except the award."

Usage notes

Spell-checkers miss most wrong-word errors because the word itself is spelled correctly. Homophones and near-homophones cause most of them. Some teachers reserve WW for clear mistakes and use WC (word choice) for words that are acceptable but imprecise. In history, WW stands for World War.

More proofreading and correction mark abbreviations

  • AA – Author's alteration
  • agr – Agreement error
  • AQ – Author query
  • awk – Awkward
  • bf – Boldface
  • caps – Capitals
  • CS – Comma splice
  • DM – Dangling modifier
  • frag – Sentence fragment
  • FS – Fused sentence
  • ital – Italics
  • lc – Lowercase

See all 29 proofreading and correction mark abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.