gratevsGREWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“grate” and “GRE” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,284
“grate” frequency rank
#29,675
“GRE” frequency rank
52959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grate GRE
Definition A horizontal metal grill through which liquid, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot. Any edition of the Graduate Record Examination or of any of its Subject Tests.

Letter map: grate vs GRE

Shared letters muted; letters that set grate and GRE apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
grate
3 ch
GRE

Corpus notes: grate and GRE

grate and GRE are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grate is recorded at frequency rank #23,284, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪt/. GRE is at rank #29,675, tagged as anoun.

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 52959, this pair ranks #152,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grate vs GRE

Shared letters: egr. Private to "grate": at. Private to "GRE": -.

"grate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "GRE" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grategarte · ggrate · gratte · grrate · grtae · rgate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grate" and "GRE" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "grate" vs "GRE" - which ranks higher?
"grate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,284 in our English list, against #29,675 for "GRE". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "grate" and "GRE".

  • Full dictionary entry for "grate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "GRE" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grate" and "GRE" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gere vs GRE". 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 #152,823 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