Draft or draught?
draft is a noun meaning “A current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle”; draught is a noun meaning “Alternative form of draft in some of its senses”. They sound the same (/dɹɑːft/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) draft is about 34 times as common as draught.
What is the difference between draft and draught?
| draft | draught | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, adjective | noun, adjective, verb |
| Meaning | USA current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle USThe draw through a flue of gasses or smoke resulting from a combustion process To write a first version; to make a preliminary sketch | UKA checker: a game piece used in the game of draughts AustraliaAle: a type of beer brewed using top-fermenting yeast |
| Example | to drink at a draft | She could feel a draught where she was sitting |
| Forms | drafts | draughts |
| Pronunciation | /dɹɑːft/ /dɹæft/ /dɹaft/ | /dɹɑːft/ /dɹæft/ /dɹɔt/ |
| In writing | 41 times per million words | 1.2 times per million words |
Sources: draft and draught in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of draft and draught
draft
- 1
USA current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle
- 2
To write a first version; to make a preliminary sketch
- 3
USReferring to drinks on tap, in contrast to bottled
I'd rather have a fresh, cheap draft beer
- 4
USThe draw through a flue of gasses or smoke resulting from a combustion process
- 5
To draw in outline; to make a draught, sketch, or plan of, as in architectural and mechanical drawing
- 6
USReferring to animals used for pulling heavy loads
A Clydesdale is a draft horse
- 7
USAn act of drinking
- 8
To write a law
draught
- 1
UKAlternative form of draft in some of its senses
She could feel a draught where she was sitting
- 2
UKAlternative spelling of draft
draught beer or cider
- 3
UKAlternative spelling of draft
- 4
UKA checker: a game piece used in the game of draughts
- 5
AustraliaAle: a type of beer brewed using top-fermenting yeast
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, draft or draught?
draft appears 41 times per million words; draught 1.2 times per million words.
draft 41 times per million wordsdraught 1.2 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search draft vs draught?
“draft vs draught” is searched about 880 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“draught vs draft”, “draft or draught”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.