waylay
/ˌweɪˈleɪ/
"waylay" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“waylay” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.
Corpus desk
Index EN-waylay · waylay · English
waylay · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | waylay |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌweɪˈleɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “waylay” in English
Rare enough to double-check
waylay is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌweɪˈleɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for waylay, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From way + lay, likely a calque of Middle Dutch wegelagen (“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”). Compare Middle Low German wegelagen, German wegelagern (“to waylay; rob”). The correct English form is waylay, spelled W-A-Y-L-A-Y.
Definition
- 1To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.
- 2To accost or intercept unexpectedly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how waylay appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Oh, youthful benefactress! how often in succeeding years, standing in solitary places, and thinking of thee with grief of heart and perfect love—how often have I wished that, as in ancient times, the curse of a father was believed to have a supernatural power, and to pursue its object with a fatal necessity of self-fulfilment; even so the benediction of a…
And when some of the friends, the ones who came every day, waylaid the doctor in the corridor, Stephen was the one who asked the most informed questions, who’d been keeping up not just with the stories that appeared several times a week in the Times […]
Etymology
From way + lay, likely a calque of Middle Dutch wegelagen (“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”). Compare Middle Low German wegelagen, German wegelagern (“to waylay; rob”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.