# Ballarat vs ballast

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### Ballarat
*name · IPA /ˈbæləɹæt/ · frequency rank #32,691*
A city and old gold mining town in Victoria, Australia.

### ballast
*noun · IPA /ˈbæl.əst/ · frequency rank #23,471*
Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ballarat-vs-ballast