weighsvsweightWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: weighs is a verb, weight is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weighs” is a verb and “weight” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,495
“weighs” frequency rank
#1,036
“weight” frequency rank
12531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weighs weight
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of weigh The downwards force an object experiences due to gravity.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weighs and weight apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
weighs
6 ch
weight

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weighs is /weɪz/ while weight is /weɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “weighs” becomes t in “weight”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weighs is recorded at frequency rank #11,495, classified as averb, pronounced /weɪz/. weight is at rank #1,036, tagged as anoun, pronounced /weɪt/.

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 12531, this pair ranks #481,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weighs vs weight

Shared letters: eghiw. Private to "weighs": s. Private to "weight": t.

"weighs" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC  ·  "weight" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weighsewighs · wegihs · weigghs · weighhs · weighss · weigsh · weihgs · wieghs
  • weightewight · wegiht · weigght · weighht · weightt · weigth · weihgt · wieght

Frequency comparison

weighs#11,495
weight#1,036

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weighs" and "weight" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weighs" is a verb and "weight" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weighs" or "weight"?
"weight" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,036 in our English list, against #11,495 for "weighs". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering weighs vs weight

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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