waringvswaveringWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: waring is a verb, wavering is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“waring” is a verb and “wavering” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,467
“waring” frequency rank
#37,766
“wavering” frequency rank
79233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature waring wavering
Definition present participle and gerund of ware Fluctuating, uncertain, undetermined, unsteady.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set waring and wavering apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
waring
8 ch
wavering

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: waring is averb and waveringanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

waring is recorded at frequency rank #41,467, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈwɛɹɪŋ/. wavering is at rank #37,766, tagged as anadj.

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 79233, this pair ranks #22,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of waring vs wavering

Shared letters: aginrw. Private to "waring": -. Private to "wavering": ev.

"waring" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "wavering" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • waringawring · wairng · warign · waringg · warnig · wraing · wwaring
  • waveringawvering · waevring · waveirng · waverign · waveringg · waverinng · wavernig · waverring

Frequency comparison

waring#41,467
wavering#37,766

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "waring" and "wavering" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "waring" is a verb and "wavering" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "waring" or "wavering"?
"wavering" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,766 in our English list, against #41,467 for "waring". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering waring vs wavering

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “waring”; for an adjective, it's “wavering”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “waring” 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