waft
/wɑft/
"waft" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“waft” is an uncommon English word, ranked #61,208 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #61,208
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | waft |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /wɑft/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #61,208 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “waft” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for waft is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /wɑft/. Corpus data places it at rank #61,208 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for waft in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (… The correct English form is waft, spelled W-A-F-T.
Definition
- 1To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
- 2To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
- 3To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
Etymology
From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “waft”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-A-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /wɑft/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.