Which to use
“grad” and “gravy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,983
- “grad” frequency rank
- #15,418
- “gravy” frequency rank
- 28401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grad | gravy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of graduate. | A thick sauce made from the fat or juices that come out from meat or vegetables as they are being cooked. |
Where the eye mixes grad and gravy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses grad with gravy
A purely visual mix-up. grad (/ɡɹæd/) and gravy (/ˈɡɹeɪvi/) 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 28401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grad is recorded at frequency rank #12,983, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹæd/. gravy is at rank #15,418, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪvi/.
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 28401, this pair ranks #371,333 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grad vs gravy
Shared letters: agr. Private to "grad": d. Private to "gravy": vy.
"grad" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "gravy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grad" and "gravy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "grad" vs "gravy" - which ranks higher?
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 "grad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gravy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,333 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grad" and "gravy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gnaw vs grad". 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 #371,333 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.