Which to use
“graue” and “gray” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,723
- “graue” frequency rank
- #16,443
- “gray” frequency rank
- 25166
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graue | gray |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs grau | US-amerikanisch: zwischen schwarz und weiß, von ähnlicher Farbe wie Wolken bei Regen |
Where the eye mixes graue and gray
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses graue with gray
A purely visual mix-up. graue ([ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə]) and gray ([ɡɹeɪ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
graue is recorded at frequency rank #8,723, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə]. gray is at rank #16,443, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡɹeɪ].
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 25166, this pair ranks #1,837,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of graue vs gray
Shared letters: agr. Private to "graue": eu. Private to "gray": y.
"graue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "graue" for "gray" ever safe?
Frequency check: "graue" vs "gray" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "graue" and "gray" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "graue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gray" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,837,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graue" and "gray" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs gray". 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 #1,837,223 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.