English homophones
waive/wave
"wave" (#2,423 written frequency) beats "waive" (#21,411) in this 2-word /weɪv/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /weɪv/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "wave" leads at #2,423, with "waive" trailing at #21,411.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "wa" then splits - "waive" (5 letters) vs "wave" (4).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across waive, wave: aevw. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
waive
5 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVVCV
Inventory aeivw · private i
wave
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory aevw · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "waive" when you mean: To relinquish (a right etc.); to give up claim to; to forgo.
- Write "wave" when you mean: To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (waive, wave). Here's where to go from here.
- "wave" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #2,423 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: ways · weighs. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "waive, wave" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.