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poise

/pɔɪz/noun, verb

poise is spelled P-O-I-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, poise means “A state of balance, equilibrium or stability” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of poise is poises.

How many letters and syllables are in poise?

Letters5: P-O-I-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,462nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

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).

How common is poise?

Poise appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd 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 poise?

  • /pɔɪz/

Poise 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poise.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of poise

  • poises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • poising participle, present
  • poised participle, past

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

What does poise mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A state of balance, equilibrium or stability.

  2. 2

    Composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation.

  3. 3

    Mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body.

  4. 4

    A condition of hovering, or being suspended.

  5. 5

    A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.

  6. 6

    obsoleteWeight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.

  7. 7

    The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.

  8. 8

    That which causes a balance; a counterweight.

  9. 9

    Unit of viscosity in the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS).

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo counterpoise; to counterbalance.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo be of a given weight; to weigh.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo add weight to, to weigh down.

  5. 5

    archaicTo hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose.

  6. 6

    To hold (something) in equilibrium, to hold balanced and ready; to carry (something) ready to be used.

    I poised the crowbar in my hand, and waited.

  7. 7

    To keep (something) in equilibrium; to hold suspended or balanced.

    The rock was poised precariously on the edge of the cliff.

  8. 8

    To ascertain, as if by balancing; to weigh.

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

Poise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanSelbstsicherheit (That which causes a balance; a counterweight), Gleichgewicht, Fassung (state of balance, equilibrium or stability), Gelassenheit (composure; freedom from embarrassment or…), Haltung (mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body)
Spanishcontrapeso (That which causes a balance; a counterweight), equilibrio (state of balance, equilibrium or stability), ponderación, apostura, compostura, aplomo (composure; freedom from embarrassment or…)
Frenchassurance, aisance, sang-froid, aplomb (composure; freedom from embarrassment or…), poise (a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity)
Portuguesecompostura (composure; freedom from embarrassment or…), poise (a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity)

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 poise come from?

From Middle English poys, poyse, from Anglo-Norman pois, Middle French pois (“weight”) and Anglo-Norman poise, Middle French poise (“measure of weight”), from Latin pendere (“to weigh, ponder, think”). Doublet of peise.

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

What to look up after poise