GoldvsGradWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Gold” and “Grad” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,083
“Gold” frequency rank
#928
“Grad” frequency rank
2011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gold Grad
Definition gelbes, glänzendes, leicht verformbares Metall; das chemische Element mit der Ordnungszahl 79 das Ausmaß, das Viel oder Wenig einer Eigenschaft oder eines Zustandes

Where the eye mixes Gold and Grad

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

4 ch
Gold
4 ch
Grad

Visual trap between Gold and Grad

A purely visual mix-up. Gold ([ɡɔlt]) and Grad ([ɡʁaːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gold is recorded at frequency rank #1,083, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡɔlt]. Grad is at rank #928, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁaːt].

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 2011, this pair ranks #2,003,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gold vs Grad

Shared letters: dg. Private to "Gold": lo. Private to "Grad": ar.

"Gold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Grad" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Goldggold · glod · godl · goldd · golld · ogld
  • Gradgard · ggrad · gradd · grda · grrad · rgad

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gold" for "Grad" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡɔlt] versus [ɡʁaːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Gold" vs "Grad" - which ranks higher?
"Grad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #928 in our German list, against #1,083 for "Gold". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gold" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grad" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,003,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gold" and "Grad" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs Grad". 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 #2,003,278 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list