Which to use
“graft” and “gravy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,622
- “graft” frequency rank
- #15,418
- “gravy” frequency rank
- 31040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graft | gravy |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 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 graft and gravy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between graft and gravy
A purely visual mix-up. graft (/ɡɹɑːft/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31040, 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/. 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 31040, this pair ranks #349,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of graft vs gravy
Shared letters: agr. Private to "graft": ft. Private to "gravy": vy.
"graft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "gravy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "graft" and "gravy" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "graft" or "gravy" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "graft" 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 #349,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graft" and "gravy" 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 #349,549 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.