# wailing vs waxing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### wailing
*noun · IPA /ˈweɪlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #25,253*
A loud drawn out scream or howl.

### waxing
*noun · IPA /ˈwæksɪŋ/ · frequency rank #28,423*
An act of applying wax.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wailing-vs-waxing