Which to use
“ara” and “arras” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,997
- “ara” frequency rank
- #49,764
- “arras” frequency rank
- 71761
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ara | arras |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The great blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna). | A tapestry or wall hanging. |
Where the eye mixes ara and arras
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ara runs 3 letters (VCV) against arras's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ara and arras
A purely visual mix-up. ara (/ˈeɪ.ɹə/) and arras (/ˈæɹəs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ara is recorded at frequency rank #21,997, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.ɹə/. arras is at rank #49,764, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæɹəs/.
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 71761, this pair ranks #45,505 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ara vs arras
Shared letters: ar. Private to "ara": -. Private to "arras": s.
"ara" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "arras" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- arras ← arars · aras · arrass · arrsa · raras
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ara" for "arras" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ara" or "arras"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,505 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ara" and "arras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Akram vs arras". 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 #45,505 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.