wives

/waɪvz/

//waɪvz// noun

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

"wives" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wives” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,318. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,318
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of wife

Corpus desk

Index EN-wives · wives · English

wives · rank #6,318 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,318
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH widow

Nearest frequency peer: widow (-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 “wives”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “wives” 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).

wives vs woes
60% similar
wives vs wove
60% similar
wives vs woven
60% similar

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

Key facts for wives
PropertyValue
Headwordwives
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/waɪvz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,318
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wives”

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).wiveslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “widow” (#6,317), “wears” (#6,316), “adjust” (#6,320). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wives” is #6,318. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around wives (IPA /waɪvz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,318 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for wives, with forms such as "iwves", "wievs", and "wivess". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "woes", "wove", "woven", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is wives, spelled W-I-V-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of wife
  2. 2
    genitive of wife

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] beautie in his wiues face, will féede his heart with a thouſand delights: […]
  2. […] where Hercules and Omphale having changed garments, he lying in his wives clothes, and ſhe in his Lions skin, made the luſtfull God mistake ſo unluckily, […]

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iwves
  • wievs
  • wivess
  • wivse
  • wivves
  • wvies
  • wwives

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wives - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iwves2wievs2wivess1wivse2wivves1wvies2wwives1
Edit distance from "wives"

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 "wives"?
"wives" is spelled W-I-V-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /waɪvz/.
What does "wives" mean?
As a noun, "wives" means: plural of wife
What words are commonly confused with "wives"?
"wives" is commonly confused with "woes", "wove", "woven". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wives"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wives" is /waɪvz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "wives" come from?
"wives" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "wives", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

widow#6,317wears#6,316viral#6,314tooth#6,305

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

rebel7 variantscookie7 variantscurse7 variantsdrain7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list