# widow vs widower

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### widow
*noun · IPA /ˈwɪd.əʊ/ · frequency rank #6,317*
A person whose spouse is absent:

### widower
*noun · IPA /ˈwɪdoʊɚ/ · frequency rank #28,087*
A man whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); a man in relation to his late spouse; masculine of widow.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/widow-vs-widower