Which to use
“graft” and “grave” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,622
- “graft” frequency rank
- #4,239
- “grave” frequency rank
- 19861
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graft | grave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small shoot or scion of a tree inserted in another tree, the stock of which is to support and nourish it. The two unite and become one tree, but the graft determines the kind of fruit. | An excavation in the earth as a place of burial. |
Where the eye mixes graft and grave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses graft with grave
A purely visual mix-up. graft (/ɡɹɑːft/) and grave (/ɡɹeɪv/) 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 19861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
graft is recorded at frequency rank #15,622, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹɑːft/. grave is at rank #4,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪv/.
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 19861, this pair ranks #435,207 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of graft vs grave
Shared letters: agr. Private to "graft": ft. Private to "grave": ev.
"graft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "graft" for "grave" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "graft" or "grave" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "graft" and "grave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "graft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,207 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graft" and "grave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graft vs grt". 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 #435,207 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.