gracedvsgradeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: graced is a verb, grade is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“graced” is a verb and “grade” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,295
“graced” frequency rank
#1,660
“grade” frequency rank
30955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graced grade
Definition simple past and past participle of grace A rating.

Where the eye mixes graced and grade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
graced
5 ch
grade

Why the eye confuses graced with grade

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graced is /ɡɹeɪst/ while grade is /ɡɹeɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

graced is recorded at frequency rank #29,295, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹeɪst/. grade is at rank #1,660, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪd/.

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 30955, this pair ranks #350,258 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of graced vs grade

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "graced": c. Private to "grade": -.

"graced" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "grade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gracedgarced · ggraced · gracced · gracde · gracedd · graecd · grcaed · grraced
  • gradegarde · ggrade · gradde · graed · grdae · grrade · rgade

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "graced" and "grade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "graced" is a verb and "grade" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "graced" or "grade"?
"grade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,660 in our English list, against #29,295 for "graced". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "graced" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #350,258 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graced" and "grade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graced vs grates". 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 #350,258 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list