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PlainSpell

wither

with·er/ˈwɪðɚ/verb, noun

wither is spelled W-I-T-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (with·er). It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “whither vs wither” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, wither means “To shrivel, droop or dry up, especially from lack of water” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in wither?

Letters6: W-I-T-H-E-R
Syllables2: with·er
In writing1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 wither?

Wither appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th 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 wither?

  • UK /ˈwɪðə/
  • UK [ˈwɪðə]
  • US /ˈwɪðɚ/

Wither has 2 syllables, split with·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-wither.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with wither

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

whither vs wither40 G

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

What rhymes with wither?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wither from its last stressed vowel (/ɪðəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: writhe.

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 wither

  • withers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • withering participle, present
  • withered participle, past
  • more wither comparative
  • most wither superlative
  • weather-
  • wother-
  • widder-

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

What does wither mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To shrivel, droop or dry up, especially from lack of water.

    The flowers began to wither in the hot sun without enough water.

  2. 2

    To cause to shrivel or dry up.

  3. 3

    To lose vigour or power; to languish; to waste away; to pass away.

  4. 4

    To become helpless due to emotion.

  5. 5

    To make helpless due to emotion.

  6. 6

    To go against, resist; oppose.

noun

  1. 1

    singular of withers (“part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades”) (a form of withers)

adverb

  1. 1

    obsoleteAgainst, in opposition to.

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

Wither in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchflétrir, se faner, se dessécher ((intransitive) shrivel, droop, dry up)
Germanvertrocknen, welken, verwelken, verdorren ((intransitive) shrivel, droop, dry up), schwächer werden, verkümmern (to lose vigor or power)
Portuguesemurchar murchar-se, mirrar, mirrar-se ((intransitive) shrivel, droop, dry up), decair ((transitive) to make helpless due to emotion)
Spanishmarchitarse, ajarse ((intransitive) shrivel, droop, dry up), decaer ((intransitive) to become helpless due to emotion), marchitar, ajar, ahajar ((transitive) to cause to shrivel or dry up)

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 wither come from?

From Middle English widren, wydderen (“to dry up, shrivel”), related to or perhaps an alteration of Middle English wederen (“to expose to weather”), from Old English wederian (“to expose to weather, exhibit a change of weather”).

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

What to look up after wither