arrasvsarraysWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“arras” and “arrays” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,764
“arras” frequency rank
#19,759
“arrays” frequency rank
69523
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arras arrays
Definition A tapestry or wall hanging. plural of array

Where the eye mixes arras and arrays

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. arras runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against arrays's 6 (VCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
arras
6 ch
arrays

Look-alike desk: arras vs arrays

A purely visual mix-up. arras (/ˈæɹəs/) and arrays (/əˈɹeɪz/) 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 69523, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arras is recorded at frequency rank #49,764, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈæɹəs/. arrays is at rank #19,759, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈɹeɪz/.

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 69523, this pair ranks #54,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of arras vs arrays

Shared letters: ars. Private to "arras": -. Private to "arrays": y.

"arras" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "arrays" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arras ← arars · aras · arrass · arrsa · raras
  • arrays ← ararys · arays · arrasy · arrayss · arrayys · arryas · rarays

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arras" and "arrays" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈæɹəs/ versus /əˈɹeɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "arras" vs "arrays" - which ranks higher?
"arrays" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,759 in our English list, against #49,764 for "arras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "arras" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arrays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arras" and "arrays" 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 #54,205 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list