Waiver or waver?
waiver is a noun meaning “The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege”; waver is a verb meaning “To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter”. Use waiver as a noun and waver as a verb (waver is also a noun: “An act of moving back and forth, swinging, or waving; a…”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) waiver is about 6.0 times as common as waver.
What is the difference between waiver and waver?
| waiver | waver | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Meaning | The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege A legal document removing some requirement, such as waiving a right (giving it up) or a waiver of liability (agreeing to hold someone blameless) To waive (to relinquish, to forego) | To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter To begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way An act of moving back and forth, swinging, or waving; a flutter, a tremble |
| Example | I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong | Flowers wavered in the breeze |
| Forms | waivers | wavers, wavering, wavered |
| Pronunciation | /ˈweɪ.və(ɹ)/ /ˈweɪ.vɚ/ | /ˈweɪvə/ /ˈweɪvəɹ/ |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: waiver and waver 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 waiver and waver
waiver
- 1
The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege
- 2
To waive (to relinquish, to forego)
{{quote-text|en|year=1987|publisher=US Department of Defense|title=AR 195-3 04/22/1987 Acceptance, Accreditation, and Release of United States Army Criminal Investigation Command…
- 3
A legal document removing some requirement, such as waiving a right (giving it up) or a waiver of liability (agreeing to hold someone blameless)
I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong
- 4
CanadaUSrelating to waivers
- 5
Something that releases a person from a requirement
I needed a waiver from the department head to take the course because I didn't technically have the prerequisite courses
waver
- 1
To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter
Flowers wavered in the breeze
- 2
An act of moving back and forth, swinging, or waving; a flutter, a tremble
- 3
One who waves their arms, or causes something to swing or wave
I felt encouraged by all the enthusiastic wavers in the crowd
- 4
datedA sapling or other young tree left standing when other trees around it have been felled
- 5
datedTo move without purpose or a specified destination; to roam, to wander
- 6
A state of beginning to weaken or showing signs of weakening in resolve; a falter
- 7
A person who specializes in treating hair to make it wavy
- 8
To begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way
Despite all the terrible things that happened to her, she never wavered from her beliefs
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, waiver or waver?
waiver appears 3.4 times per million words; waver about once in every 2 million words.
waiver 3.4 times per million wordswaver about once in every 2 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search waiver vs waver?
“waiver vs waver” is searched about 1,600 times a month on Google and 30 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“waver vs waiver”, “waiver or waver”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.