Which to use
“grader” and “grades” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,367
- “grader” frequency rank
- #4,452
- “grades” frequency rank
- 24819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grader | grades |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A machine used in road maintenance, construction, and mining for leveling large surfaces. | plural of grade |
Where the eye mixes grader and grades
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grader and grades
A purely visual mix-up. grader (/ˈɡɹeɪdɚ/) and grades (/ɡɹeɪdz/) 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 a single letter - r in “grader” becomes s in “grades”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grader is recorded at frequency rank #20,367, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪdɚ/. grades is at rank #4,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪdz/.
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 24819, this pair ranks #399,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grader vs grades
Shared letters: adegr. Private to "grader": -. Private to "grades": s.
"grader" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "grades" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grader" and "grades" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grader" or "grades"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "grader" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grades" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grader" and "grades" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glazer vs grader". 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 #399,082 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.