woo

/wuː/

//wuː// verb

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

"woo" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“woo” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,745) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,745
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To endeavor to gain someone's affection/support.

Corpus desk

Index EN-woo · woo · English

woo · rank #8,745 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,745
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wee

Nearest frequency peer: wee (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “woo”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “woo” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

woo vs Wu
0% similar
woo vs wt
33% similar
woo vs WS
0% similar

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

Key facts for woo
PropertyValue
Headwordwoo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/wuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,745
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “woo”

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).woolands 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 “wee” (#8,744), “vague” (#8,743), “zip” (#8,747). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “woo” is #8,745. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for woo is neighbouring look-alikes ("Wu", "wt", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /wuː/. Frequency #8,745 among 1,759 “W” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for woo, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Wu", "wt", "WS", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline (some)one… The correct English form is woo, spelled W-O-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    To endeavor to gain someone's affection/support.
  2. 2
    To try to persuade (someone) to be in an amorous relationship with
  3. 3
    To court solicitously; to invite with importunity; to solicit in love.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. They're trying to woo the customers back with this new mobile plan.
  2. Behind this carefully crafted strategy of wooing Trump is a desire from Gulf states to solidify and formalize their positions as the US’ indispensable security and economic partners, and extract as much benefit for themselves as they can.

Etymology

From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline (some)one toward oneself". If so, then derived from Proto-Germanic *wanhō (“a bend, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wonk- (“crooked, bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *wā- (“to bend, twist, turn”); related to Old Norse vá (“corner, angle”).

Synonyms

courtaddressbeaubedearchase afterendearmake a move (on)make lovepitch wooput the moves onromancesolicitsparkwoo

This word in other languages

cortejar(Español)courtiser(Français)umwerben(Deutsch)cortejar(Português)

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 "woo"?
"woo" is spelled W-O-O. The IPA pronunciation is /wuː/.
What does "woo" mean?
As a verb, "woo" means: To endeavor to gain someone's affection/support.
What words are commonly confused with "woo"?
"woo" is commonly confused with "Wu", "wt", "WS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "woo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "woo" is /wuː/. 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 "woo"?
From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline... 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 "woo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wee#8,744zip#8,747abs#8,749ahh#8,752

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list