Skip to main content
PlainSpell

away

a·way/əˈweɪ/adverb, interjection, adjective, verb

away is spelled A-W-A-Y, 2 syllables: a·way. The wrong spelling people search most is awya: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 476 of all searches for the word. Away is an adverb meaning “From a place, hence”.

How many letters and syllables are in away?

Letters4: A-W-A-Y
Syllables2: a·way
In writing417 times per million words; the 217th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, awya, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell away?

Away is spelled A-W-A-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 479 of the searches for away in either form.

awaythe right spelling9,560 searches a month
awyaa and y swapped20 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is away?

Away appears 417 times per million words in written English, the 217th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce away?

  • US /əˈweɪ/
  • British /əˈwɛj/
  • Australia /əˈwæɪ/

Away has 2 syllables, split a·way in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-away.ogg, En-uk-away.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with away

Sounds like: aweigh (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with away?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as away from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of away

  • aways present, singular, he/she/it
  • awaying participle, present
  • awayed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does away mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adverb

  1. 1

    From a place, hence.

    He went away on vacation.

  2. 2

    Aside; off; in another direction.

    I tried to approach him, but he turned away.

  3. 3

    Aside, so as to discard something.

    throw away, chuck away, toss away

  4. 4

    At a stated distance in time or space.

    Christmas is only two weeks away.

  5. 5

    In or to something's usual or proper storage place.

    I'll dry the dishes and you put them away.

  6. 6

    In or to a secure or out-of-the-way place.

    The jewels were locked away in the safe.

  7. 7

    From a state or condition of being; out of existence.

    fade away, die away

  8. 8

    So as to remove or use up something.

    The weather has worn away the inscription, and it is no longer legible.

interjection

  1. 1

    ScotlandAway with you! Go away! Begone!

adjective

  1. 1

    Not here, gone, absent, unavailable, traveling; on vacation.

    The master is away from home on a course.

  2. 2

    At a specified distance in space, time, or figuratively.

    He's miles away by now.

  3. 3

    Not on one's home territory.

    This is the entrance for away supporters.

  4. 4

    Out.

    Two men away in the bottom of the ninth.

  5. 5

    Being the player whose ball lies farthest from the hole (or, in disc golf, whose disc lies farthest from the target).

verb

  1. 1

    ScotlandTo depart; to go to another place.

    At 9 o'clock sharp he awayed to bed.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Away in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchloin (from a place; hence)
Germanfort, weg (from a place; hence), fern (at a distance in time or space), abwesend (not here; gone)
Portugueseembora (from a place; hence), a, daqui a (at a distance in time or space), para fora (aside; off; in another direction), sai, saia (equivalent to an imperative: Go or come away…)
Spanishfuera (from a place; hence), lejos, distar (at a distance in time or space), sin parar (on; in continuance; without intermission or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does away come from?

From Middle English away, awey, awei, oway, o wey, on way, from Old English āweġ, onweġ (“away”), originally on weġ (“on one's way; onward; on”), equivalent to a- (“on”) + way.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after away