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PlainSpell

ease

/iz/noun, verb

ease is spelled E-A-S-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ease means “Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ease is eases.

How many letters and syllables are in ease?

Letters4: E-A-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing22 times per million words; the 4,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ease?

Ease appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th 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 ease?

  • UK /iːz/
  • US /iz/

Ease has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ease.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ease.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with ease

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

Also written: ese.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with ease?

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

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 ease

  • eases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • easing participle, present
  • eased participle, past

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

What does ease mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily.

    He played the ukelele with ease.

  2. 2

    Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth.

    She enjoyed the ease of living in a house where the servants did all the work.

  3. 3

    Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference.

    The pension set her mind at ease.

  4. 4

    Freedom from effort; leisure, rest.

    We took our ease on the patio.

  5. 5

    Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence.

    His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.

  6. 6

    Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace.

    She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.

  7. 7

    Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance.

    Take one pill every 12 hours to provide ease from pain.

  8. 8

    obsoleteRelease from intestinal discomfort: defecation.

verb

  1. 1

    To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.

    He eased his conscience by confessing.

  2. 2

    To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).

  3. 3

    To give respite to (someone).

    The provision of extra staff eased their workload.

  4. 4

    To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.

    We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.

  5. 5

    To reduce the difficulty of (something).

    We had to ease the entry requirements.

  6. 6

    To move (something) slowly and carefully.

    He eased the cork from the bottle.

  7. 7

    To lessen in intensity.

    The pain eased overnight.

  8. 8

    To proceed with little effort.

    The car eased onto the motorway.

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

Ease in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfacilité (ability – see also ability), repos (relaxation), abaisser, abréger, amoindrir, soulager (to alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain))
GermanLeichtigkeit, Mühelosigkeit (ability – see also ability), Behaglichkeit, Bequemlichkeit (comfort – see also comfort), Unbeschwertheit (freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance), erleichtern (to free (something) from pain, worry…)
Portuguesehabilidade, à-vontade, facilidade (ability – see also ability), aliviar (to alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain)), conforto (comfort – see also comfort), comodidade (freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance)
Spanishpara facilitar (ability – see also ability), relajo (relaxation), aliviar (to free (something) from pain, worry…), facilidad, soltura (freedom from effort), aflojar (to loosen or slacken the tension on (something))

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 ease come from?

From Middle English ese, eise, aise, from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise, aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Apparently related to Provençal ais, Italian agio and asio, Sicilian aciu and Portuguese azo.

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

What to look up after ease