Ware or wear?
ware is a noun meaning “Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use”; wear is a verb meaning “To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing…”. Use ware as a noun and wear as a verb (wear is also a noun: “Clothing”). They sound the same (/ˈwɛə/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) wear is about 23 times as common as ware.
What is the difference between ware and wear?
| ware | wear | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective, verb, suffix | verb, noun, suffix |
| Meaning | Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use See wares Aware | To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, perfume, etc To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner Clothing |
| Example | damascene ware, tole ware | He's wearing some nice pants today |
| Forms | wares | wears, wearing, wore, worn wears, wearing, weared, wore, worn |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɛə/ /ˈwɛɹ/ /ˈweː/ | /wɛə/ /wɛː/ /wɛ(ə)ɹ/ |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words | 83 times per million words |
Sources: ware and wear 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 ware and wear
ware
- 1
Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use
- 2
Aware
- 3
Alternative form of wear (“to veer or bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern”)
- 4
ScotlandSpring, springtime
- 5
Old eye dialect spelling of were
- 6
Used to form nouns denoting, collectively, items made from a particular substance
glass + -ware → glassware
- 7
Used to form mass nouns denoting specific classes of computer software, based on use, function, or method of distribution
- 8
See wares
wear
- 1
To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, perfume, etc
He's wearing some nice pants today
- 2
Clothing
footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
- 3
UKTo guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion
- 4
datedDated form of weir
- 5
worn by a particular sex (e.g., menswear, womenswear) or age of person (e.g., kidswear)
- 6
To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner
He wears eyeglasses
- 7
Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time
- 8
UKTo defend; protect
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, ware or wear?
ware appears 3.5 times per million words; wear 83 times per million words.
ware 3.5 times per million wordswear 83 times per 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 ware vs wear?
“ware vs wear” is searched about 880 times a month on Google and 70 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“wear vs ware”, “ware or wear”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.