Which to use
“weak” is an adjective and “wean” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,237
- “weak” frequency rank
- #40,968
- “wean” frequency rank
- 43205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weak | wean |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability. | To cease giving breast milk to an offspring; to accustom and reconcile (a child or young animal) to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder. |
Where the eye mixes weak and wean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: weak vs wean
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weak is /wiːk/ while wean is /wiːn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - k in “weak” becomes n in “wean”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weak is recorded at frequency rank #2,237, classified as anadj, pronounced /wiːk/. wean is at rank #40,968, tagged as averb, pronounced /wiːn/.
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 43205, this pair ranks #242,240 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of weak vs wean
Shared letters: aew. Private to "weak": k. Private to "wean": n.
"weak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "wean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weak" and "wean" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "weak" or "wean"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "weak" and "wean" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "weak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wean" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,240 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weak" and "wean" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wac vs wean". 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 #242,240 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.