Which to use
“grader” and “grates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,367
- “grader” frequency rank
- #43,675
- “grates” frequency rank
- 64042
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grader | grates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A machine used in road maintenance, construction, and mining for leveling large surfaces. | plural of grate |
Where the eye mixes grader and grates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grader and grates
A purely visual mix-up. grader (/ˈɡɹeɪdɚ/) and grates (/ɡɹeɪts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64042, 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/. grates is at rank #43,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪts/.
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 64042, this pair ranks #79,763 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of grader vs grates
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grader": d. Private to "grates": st.
"grader" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "grates" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grader" and "grates" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "grader" vs "grates" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "grader" and "grates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grader" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,763 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grader" and "grates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gazes 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 #79,763 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.