waft
/wɑft/verb, noun
waft is spelled W-A-F-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,838th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, waft means “To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in waft?
| Letters | 4: W-A-F-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,838th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 waft?
Waft appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,838th 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 waft?
- US /wɑft/
- UK /wɒft/
- Australia /wɔft/
Waft 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-waft.ogg, En-au-waft.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of waft
- wafts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- wafting participle, present
- wafted participle, past
- wheft
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does waft mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
- 2
To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel.
- 3
To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
noun
- 1
A light breeze.
- 2
Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air.
- 3
A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.
- 4
slangA loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Waft in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | treiben, wehen, wallen, wabern, streichen, umwehen |
| Spanish | revolotear, levitar , flotar, esparcirse , señalizar , vaharada |
| Portuguese | flutuar |
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 waft come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).