weirvsweyTell them apart

Quick tell: weir is a noun, wey is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weir” is a noun and “wey” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,882
“weir” frequency rank
#9,062
“wey” frequency rank
55944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weir wey
Definition Una presa ajustable localizada a lo ancho de un río para regular el flujo de agua río abajo; presa, dique. Grande.

Where the eye mixes weir and wey

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
weir
3 ch
wey

Look-alike desk: weir vs wey

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weir is /wɪə/ while wey is /ˈwej/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weir is recorded at frequency rank #46,882, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɪə/. wey is at rank #9,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈwej/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 55944, this pair ranks #76,688 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of weir vs wey

Shared letters: ew. Private to "weir": ir. Private to "wey": y.

"weir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "wey" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weirewir · weirr · weri · wier · wweir

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weir" and "wey" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weir" is a noun and "wey" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weir" or "wey"?
"wey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,062 in our Spanish list, against #46,882 for "weir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,688 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weir" and "wey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weir vs weón". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #76,688 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list