Which to use
“foray” and “foxy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,464
- “foray” frequency rank
- #28,925
- “foxy” frequency rank
- 56389
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foray | foxy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. | The recreational drug 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). |
Where the eye mixes foray and foxy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. foray runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against foxy's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: foray vs foxy
A purely visual mix-up. foray (/ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/) and foxy (/ˈfɑksi/) 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 56389, 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/. foxy is at rank #28,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɑksi/.
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 56389, this pair ranks #126,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foray vs foxy
Shared letters: foy. Private to "foray": ar. Private to "foxy": x.
"foray" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "foxy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foray" and "foxy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "foray" vs "foxy" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "foxy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foray" and "foxy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO vs foxy". 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 #126,651 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.