Verbs That Start With W

114 words Words by letter Checked 9 Oct 2026

These verbs that start with W come from a standard English dictionary used for word games, ranked by how often each word is used in everyday writing. There are 114 verbs starting with W on this page. The 100 most common come first, each with a short meaning, followed by shorter, longer and easier picks and a filter for any ending or length.

W holds 114 verbs, and a lot of them describe daily life: want, work, wait, watch, walk, wash, wake and wear. These are ideal for picture cards with younger children.

Look at with- in withdraw, withstand and withhold, an old prefix meaning away or against. Silent W appears in wrap and write, which trips up early spellers. Won sits on the list as the past of win, and worrying, wrapping and watering show how -ing endings sometimes double a consonant and sometimes do not.

Verbs starting with W: 114
Most used: want
Longest common one: withstand 9 letters

Most common verbs that start with W

Ranked by how often the word appears in English text. "Type" is the word's main part of speech.

#	Word	Meaning	Type
1	want	feel or have a desire for; want strongly	verb
2	work	exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity	verb
3	win	be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious	verb
4	wait	stay in one place and anticipate or expect something	verb
5	watch	look attentively	verb
6	won	be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious	verb
7	wish	hope for; have a wish	verb
8	walk	use one's feet to advance; advance by steps	verb
9	write	produce a literary work	verb
10	welcome	accept gladly	verb
11	wonder	have a wish or desire to know something	verb
12	wear	be dressed in	verb
13	wearing	be dressed in	verb
14	worry	be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy	verb
15	waste	spend thoughtlessly; throw away	verb
16	wake	be awake, be alert, be there	verb
17	witness	be a witness to	verb
18	wash	clean with some chemical process	verb
19	warrant	show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for	verb
20	wrap	arrange or fold as a cover or protection	verb
21	worrying	be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy	verb
22	wasting	spend thoughtlessly; throw away	verb
23	withdraw	pull back or move away or backward	verb
24	warn	notify of danger, potential harm, or risk	verb
25	whip	beat severely with a whip or rod	verb
26	wipe	rub with a circular motion	verb
27	weigh	have a certain weight	verb
28	wade	walk (through relatively shallow water)	verb
29	wreck	smash or break forcefully	verb
30	waking	be awake, be alert, be there	verb
31	whistle	make whistling sounds	verb
32	woo	seek someone's favor	verb
33	weighing	have a certain weight	verb
34	waving	signal with the hands or nod	verb
35	whisper	speak softly; in a low voice	verb
36	wander	move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment	verb
37	wed	take in marriage	verb
38	withstand	resist or confront with resistance	verb
39	warp	make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story	verb
40	wrapping	arrange or fold as a cover or protection	verb
41	watering	supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams	verb
42	weaving	interlace by or as if by weaving	verb
43	welding	join together by heating	verb
44	weave	interlace by or as if by weaving	verb
45	wiring	provide with electrical circuits	verb
46	wink	signal by winking	verb
47	weaken	lessen the strength of	verb
48	wrestle	combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force	verb
49	widening	become broader or wider or more extensive	verb
50	whack	hit hard	verb
51	weep	shed tears because of sadness, rage, or pain	verb
52	welch	cheat by avoiding payment of a gambling debt	verb
53	wrench	twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached...	verb
54	weld	join together by heating	verb
55	whine	move with a whining sound	verb
56	withhold	hold back; refuse to hand over or share	verb
57	wiggle	move to and fro	verb
58	widen	become broader or wider or more extensive	verb
59	waive	do without or cease to hold or adhere to	verb
60	wilt	lose strength	verb
61	wheeling	change directions as if revolving on a pivot	verb
62	wield	have and exercise	verb
63	whoop	shout, as if with joy or enthusiasm	verb
64	wounding	cause injuries or bodily harm to	verb
65	whisk	move somewhere quickly	verb
66	wad	compress into a wad	verb
67	worsen	grow worse	verb
68	wading	walk (through relatively shallow water)	verb
69	wag	move from side to side	verb
70	wither	wither, as with a loss of moisture	verb
71	wobble	move unsteadily	verb
72	withers	wither, as with a loss of moisture	verb
73	whirl	turn in a twisting or spinning motion	verb
74	wreak	cause to happen or to occur as a consequence	verb
75	wail	emit long loud cries	verb
76	whiz	make a soft swishing sound	verb
77	wanton	waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently	verb
78	wane	grow smaller	verb
79	winking	signal by winking	verb
80	warping	make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story	verb
81	wallow	devote oneself entirely to something; indulge in to an immoderate degree, usually with pleasure	verb
82	wavering	pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness	verb
83	wham	hit hard	verb
84	waver	pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness	verb
85	whoosh	move with a sibilant sound	verb
86	wooing	seek someone's favor	verb
87	wring	twist and press out of shape	verb
88	whirling	turn in a twisting or spinning motion	verb
89	wean	gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother's milk	verb
90	whimper	cry weakly or softly	verb
91	winkle	emit or reflect light in a flickering manner	verb
92	wrangling	to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively	verb
93	wrest	obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically	verb
94	wallop	hit hard	verb
95	whet	make keen or more acute	verb
96	wince	draw back, as with fear or pain	verb
97	wrangle	to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively	verb
98	wriggle	to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)	verb
99	whizz	make a soft swishing sound	verb
100	whiten	turn white	verb

Positive verbs that start with W

work
win
won
welcome
wonder
woo

Short verbs that start with W

want
work
win
wait
watch
won
wish
walk
write
wear
worry
waste
wake
wash
wrap
warn
whip
wipe
weigh
wade
wreck
woo
wed
warp
weave
wink
whack
weep
welch
weld
whine
widen
waive
wilt
wield
whoop

Filter all 114 verbs that start with W

Narrow the full list by ending, letters inside and length. The list updates as you type.

Ends with Contains Length Sort

Questions people ask

How many verbs start with W?

This list has 114 verbs starting with W, taken from a standard word-game dictionary and limited to words that appear in real English text.

What are the most common verbs that start with W?

want, work, win, wait, watch, won, wish, walk are the most used in everyday English.

What are some long verbs that start with W?

withstand, wrangling.

What are easy verbs that start with W for kids?

want, work, win, wait, watch, won are short, everyday examples.

Source: the ENABLE word list (a public-domain dictionary used for word games), ranked by how often each word appears in English text (the open wordfreq project), with short meanings from Princeton WordNet. Offensive words are left out.

See every letter on one page: verbs A to Z