Which to use
“catty” and “crafty” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,246
- “catty” frequency rank
- #22,047
- “crafty” frequency rank
- 71293
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | catty | crafty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women. | Skillful at deceiving others. |
Where the eye mixes catty and crafty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. catty runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against crafty's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses catty with crafty
A purely visual mix-up. catty (/ˈkæti/) and crafty (/ˈkɹæfti/) 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 71293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
catty is recorded at frequency rank #49,246, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkæti/. crafty is at rank #22,047, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɹæfti/.
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 71293, this pair ranks #47,293 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of catty vs crafty
Shared letters: acty. Private to "catty": -. Private to "crafty": fr.
"catty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "crafty" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "catty" and "crafty" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "catty" or "crafty" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "catty" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crafty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,293 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "catty" and "crafty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #47,293 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.