Which to use
“foray” and “format” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,464
- “foray” frequency rank
- #3,165
- “format” frequency rank
- 30629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foray | format |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. | The layout of a publication or document. |
Where the eye mixes foray and format
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: foray vs format
A purely visual mix-up. foray (/ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/) and format (/ˈfɔː(ɹ).mæt/) 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 30629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foray is recorded at frequency rank #27,464, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/. format is at rank #3,165, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mæt/.
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 30629, this pair ranks #352,971 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foray vs format
Shared letters: afor. Private to "foray": y. Private to "format": mt.
"foray" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "format" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foray" and "format" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "foray" or "format" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "foray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "format" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #352,971 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foray" and "format" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fora vs foray". 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 #352,971 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.