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PlainSpell

waiver

/ˈweɪ.vɚ/noun, verb

waiver is spelled W-A-I-V-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “waiver vs waver” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, waiver means “The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of waiver is waivers.

How many letters and syllables are in waiver?

Letters6: W-A-I-V-E-R
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is waiver?

Waiver appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th 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 waiver?

  • UK /ˈweɪ.və(ɹ)/
  • US /ˈweɪ.vɚ/

Waiver has 2 syllables (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-waiver.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with waiver

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

waiver vs waver1,600 G

Sounds like: waver (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with waiver?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as waiver from its last stressed vowel (/eɪvəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of waiver

  • waivers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • waivering participle, present
  • waivered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does waiver mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege.

  2. 2

    A legal document removing some requirement, such as waiving a right (giving it up) or a waiver of liability (agreeing to hold someone blameless).

    I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong.

  3. 3

    CanadaUSrelating to waivers

  4. 4

    Something that releases a person from a requirement.

    I needed a waiver from the department head to take the course because I didn't technically have the prerequisite courses.

  5. 5

    obsoleteThe process of waiving or outlawing a person.

verb

  1. 1

    To waive (to relinquish, to forego).

    {{quote-text|en|year=1987|publisher=US Department of Defense|title=AR 195-3 04/22/1987 Acceptance, Accreditation, and Release of United States Army Criminal Investigation Command Personnel

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Waiver in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrenonciation (the act of waiving), exemption, dispense (something that releases a person from a…)
GermanVerzicht (the act of waiving), Verzichterklärung (legal document)
Portugueseabdicação, desistência, renúncia (the act of waiving), isenção, dispensa (something that releases a person from a…)
Spanishrenuncia, descargo, abdicación, desistencia, desistimiento, dejación (the act of waiving)

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 waiver come from?

From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waiver. Date: 1628. By surface analysis, waive + -er.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after waiver