Tier or tire?
tier is a noun meaning “One who ties (knots, etc.)”; tire is a verb meaning “To become sleepy or weary”. Use tier as a noun and tire as a verb (tire is also a noun: “US and Canada spelling of tyre: The rubber covering on a…”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) tier is about as common as tire.
What is the difference between tier and tire?
| tier | tire | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Meaning | One who ties (knots, etc.) Something that ties A row or range, especially one at a higher or lower level than another | To become sleepy or weary To make sleepy or weary US and Canada spelling of tyre: The rubber covering on a wheel |
| Example | Stoke City were playing in the second tier of English football before being promoted to the Premier League | I tire of this book |
| Forms | tiers | tires, tiring, tired |
| Pronunciation | /ˈtaɪ.ə/ /ˈtaɪ.ɚ/ /ˈtɪə/ | /ˈtaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/ /ˈtaɪ̯ɚ/ [ˈtʰaɪ̯ɚ] |
| In writing | 14 times per million words | 10 times per million words |
Sources: tier and tire in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of tier and tire
tier
- 1
One who ties (knots, etc.)
- 2
A row or range, especially one at a higher or lower level than another
- 3
To arrange in layers
- 4
Something that ties
- 5
A rank or grade; a stratum
Stoke City were playing in the second tier of English football before being promoted to the Premier League
- 6
To cascade in an overlapping sequence
- 7
AustraliaA (typically forested) range of hills or mountains, especially in South Australia or Tasmania; a mountain
- 8
To move (data) from one storage medium to another as an optimization, based on how frequently it is accessed
tire
- 1
To become sleepy or weary
- 2
US and Canada spelling of tyre: The rubber covering on a wheel
- 3
A tier, row, or rank
- 4
To make sleepy or weary
- 5
USUS spelling of tyre: The metal rim of a wheel, especially that of a railroad locomotive
- 6
To become bored or impatient (with)
I tire of this book
- 7
A child's apron covering the upper part of the body, and tied with tape or cord; a pinafore. Also tier
- 8
To bore
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, tier or tire?
tier appears 14 times per million words; tire 10 times per million words.
tier 14 times per million wordstire 10 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).