# poise

> English word · Noun · IPA /pɔɪz/ · frequency rank #27,600

## Definitions
1. A state of balance, equilibrium or stability.
2. Composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation.
3. Mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body.
4. A condition of hovering, or being suspended.
5. A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.
6. Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.
7. The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
8. That which causes a balance; a counterweight.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pos)
- **post** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-post)
- **pope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pope)
- **pole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pole)
- **pose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pose)
- **pops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pops)
- **pots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pots)
- **poke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-poke)
- **posh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-posh)
- **pore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pore)
- **pons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pons)
- **price** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-price)
- **prime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-prime)
- **prize** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-prize)
- **pride** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pride)
- **pulse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-pulse)
- **purse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-purse)
- **posed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-posed)
- **prose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-prose)
- **prism** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poise-vs-prism)

## Common misspellings (6)
`opise`, `piose`, `poies`, `poisse`, `posie`, `ppoise`

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