wallervswasherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“waller” and “washer” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,264
“waller” frequency rank
#18,734
“washer” frequency rank
38998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature waller washer
Definition One who builds walls. Something that washes; especially an appliance such as a washing machine or dishwasher.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set waller and washer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
waller
6 ch
washer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

waller and washer are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

waller is recorded at frequency rank #20,264, classified as anoun. washer is at rank #18,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɒʃə(ɹ)/.

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 38998, this pair ranks #280,793 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of waller vs washer

Shared letters: aerw. Private to "waller": l. Private to "washer": hs.

"waller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "washer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wallerawller · walelr · waler · wallerr · wallre · wlaler · wwaller
  • washerawsher · wahser · wasehr · washerr · washher · washre · wassher · wsaher

Frequency comparison

waller#20,264
washer#18,734

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "waller" and "washer" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "waller" or "washer"?
"washer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,734 in our English list, against #20,264 for "waller". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering waller vs washer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “waller” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list