wai
/waɪ/noun, adverb
wai is spelled W-A-I: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wai means “A Thai greeting wherein the palms are brought together in front of the face or chest, sometimes accompanied with a bow” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wai is wais.
How many letters and syllables are in wai?
| Letters | 3: W-A-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,463rd 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 wai?
Wai appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd 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 wai?
- /waɪ/
- /weɪ/
Wai 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-wai.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wai2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wai
- wais plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wai mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Thai greeting wherein the palms are brought together in front of the face or chest, sometimes accompanied with a bow.
adverb
- 1
why (a purposeful misspelling)
phrase
- 1
Acronym of works as intended: current situation is what was intended and thus not subject to change.
- 2
Acronym of working as intended.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does wai come from?
Borrowed from Thai ไหว้ (wâi, “a gesture of thanks”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).