Whig or wig?
whig is a noun meaning “Buttermilk”; wig is a noun meaning “A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head to disguise baldness, for…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) wig is about 4.5 times as common as whig.
What is the difference between whig and wig?
| whig | wig | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb, interjection, adjective |
| Meaning | Buttermilk To urge forward; drive briskly To jog along; move or work briskly | A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head to disguise baldness, for cultural or religious reasons, for fashion, or by actors to help them better… A bigwig To put on a wig; to provide with a wig (especially of an actor etc.) |
| Example | none recorded | That guy must be high. Look how he's wigging |
| Forms | whigs | wigs |
| Pronunciation | /ʍɪɡ/ /wɪɡ/ | /wɪɡ/ |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words | 4.4 times per million words |
Sources: whig and wig 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 whig and wig
whig
- 1
Buttermilk
- 2
To urge forward; drive briskly
- 3
UKA member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party
- 4
To jog along; move or work briskly
- 5
USAn advocate of war against, or independence from, Britain during the American Revolution
- 6
To weird out or disturb someone
- 7
USA member of a 19th-century US political party opposed to the Democratic Party
wig
- 1
A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head to disguise baldness, for cultural or religious reasons, for fashion, or by actors to help them better resemble the character they are portraying
- 2
To put on a wig; to provide with a wig (especially of an actor etc.)
- 3
An expression of shock
- 4
Initialism of wing-in-ground effect
- 5
A bigwig
- 6
colloquialTo upbraid, reprimand
- 7
datedAn old seal
- 8
colloquialslangTo act in an extremely emotional way; to be overly excited, irritable, nervous, or fearful; behave erratically
That guy must be high. Look how he's wigging
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, whig or wig?
whig appears about once in every 1 million words; wig 4.4 times per million words.
whig about once in every 1 million wordswig 4.4 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).