Which to use
“waite” is a verb and “wit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,281
- “waite” frequency rank
- #7,637
- “wit” frequency rank
- 37918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | waite | wit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Archaic spelling of wait. | Sanity. |
Letter map: waite vs wit
Shared letters muted; letters that set waite and wit apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Part-of-speech tell for waite / wit
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: waite is averb and witanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
waite is recorded at frequency rank #30,281, classified as averb. wit is at rank #7,637, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪt/.
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 37918, this pair ranks #290,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of waite vs wit
Shared letters: itw. Private to "waite": ae. Private to "wit": -.
"waite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "wit" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- waite ← awite · waiet · waitte · watie · wiate · wwaite
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "waite" for "wit" ever safe?
Frequency check: "waite" vs "wit" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "waite" vs "wit" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "waite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "waite" and "wit" 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 #290,378 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.