Which to use
“waxy” and “weary” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,468
- “waxy” frequency rank
- #12,887
- “weary” frequency rank
- 54355
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | waxy | weary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Resembling wax in texture or appearance. | Having the strength exhausted by toil or exertion; tired; fatigued. |
Where the eye mixes waxy and weary
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. waxy runs 4 letters (CVCV) against weary's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between waxy and weary
A purely visual mix-up. waxy (/ˈwæksi/) and weary (/ˈwɪə̯ɹi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
waxy is recorded at frequency rank #41,468, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwæksi/. weary is at rank #12,887, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪə̯ɹi/.
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 54355, this pair ranks #141,715 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of waxy vs weary
Shared letters: awy. Private to "waxy": x. Private to "weary": er.
"waxy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "weary" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "waxy" for "weary" ever safe?
Frequency check: "waxy" vs "weary" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "waxy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weary" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,715 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "waxy" and "weary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wawa vs waxy". 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 #141,715 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.