Which to use
“waite” is a verb and “waits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,281
- “waite” frequency rank
- #11,637
- “waits” frequency rank
- 41918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | waite | waits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Archaic spelling of wait. | plural of wait |
Letter map: waite vs waits
Shared letters muted; letters that set waite and waits apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. waite (CVVCV) and waits (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Part-of-speech tell for waite / waits
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: waite is averb and waitsanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “waite” becomes s in “waits”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
waite is recorded at frequency rank #30,281, classified as averb. waits is at rank #11,637, tagged as anoun, pronounced /weɪts/.
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 41918, this pair ranks #253,951 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of waite vs waits
Shared letters: aitw. Private to "waite": e. Private to "waits": s.
"waite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "waits" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "waite" and "waits" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "waite" or "waits"?
What to do next
You've compared "waite" and "waits". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "waite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "waits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,951 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "waite" and "waits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waifu vs waite". 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 #253,951 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.