waitress

/ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/

//ˈweɪ.tɹɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"waitress" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“waitress” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,837. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,837
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female attendant who serves customers in a restaurant, café, or similar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-waitress · waitress · English

waitress · rank #13,837 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #13,837
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH vow

Nearest frequency peer: vow (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “waitress”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “waitress” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

waitress vs witness
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for waitress
PropertyValue
Headwordwaitress
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#13,837
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “waitress”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).waitresslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “vow” (#13,836), “walnut” (#13,838), “veronica” (#13,835). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “waitress” is #13,837. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around waitress (IPA /ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,837 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A female attendant who serves customers in a restaurant, café, or similar.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for waitress, with forms such as "awitress", "wairtess", and "waiterss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "witness", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From waiter + -ess. The correct English form is waitress, spelled W-A-I-T-R-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female attendant who serves customers in a restaurant, café, or similar.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how waitress appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. a waitress in a cocktail bar.
  2. It would take a few more beers, but when the liquid courage kicked in, his wobbly legs were unable to keep pace with the fleetfooted waitress, who rolled her eyes, smiling, and finally twirled away.

Etymology

From waiter + -ess.

This word in other languages

camarera(Español)serveuse(Français)Kellnerin(Deutsch)garçonete(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awitress
  • wairtess
  • waiterss
  • waitres
  • waitrress
  • waitrses
  • waittress
  • watiress
  • wiatress
  • wwaitress

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of waitress - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

awitress2wairtess2waiterss2waitres1waitrress1waitrses2waittress1watiress2
Edit distance from "waitress"

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

How do you spell "waitress"?
"waitress" is spelled W-A-I-T-R-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/.
What does "waitress" mean?
As a noun, "waitress" means: A female attendant who serves customers in a restaurant, café, or similar.
What words are commonly confused with "waitress"?
"waitress" is commonly confused with "witness". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "waitress"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "waitress" is /ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "waitress"?
From waiter + -ess. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "waitress", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

veronica#13,835upstream#13,833WhatsApp#13,841tailored#13,821

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Shelby10 variantscomrade10 variantscurator10 variantsoppressed10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list