gradedvsGradyTell them apart

Quick tell: graded is a verb, Grady is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“graded” is a verb and “Grady” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,034
“graded” frequency rank
#24,174
“Grady” frequency rank
40208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graded Grady
Definition simple past and past participle of grade A surname from Irish.

Where the eye mixes graded and Grady

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

6 ch
graded
5 ch
Grady

Look-alike desk: graded vs Grady

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graded is /ˈɡɹeɪdɪd/ while Grady is /ˈɡɹeɪdi/. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

graded is recorded at frequency rank #16,034, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪdɪd/. Grady is at rank #24,174, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪdi/.

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 40208, this pair ranks #269,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of graded vs Grady

Shared letters: adgr. Private to "graded": e. Private to "Grady": y.

"graded" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Grady" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gradedgarded · ggraded · gradded · gradedd · graedd · grdaed · grraded · rgaded
  • Gradygardy · ggrady · graddy · gradyy · grayd · grday · grrady · rgady

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "graded" and "Grady" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "graded" is a verb and "Grady" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "graded" or "Grady" show up more?
"graded" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,034 in our English list, against #24,174 for "Grady". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "graded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grady" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #269,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graded" and "Grady" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goad vs Grady". 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 #269,651 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