Which to use
“gray” is an adjective and “greys” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,304
- “gray” frequency rank
- #34,904
- “greys” frequency rank
- 38208
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gray | greys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of a colour between black and white, having neutral hue and intermediate brightness. | Grey trousers and/or jackets worn by prisoners on relatively formal occasions. |
Letter map: gray vs greys
Shared letters muted; letters that set gray and greys apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - gray and greys
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: gray is anadjective and greysanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gray is recorded at frequency rank #3,304, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹeɪ/. greys is at rank #34,904, 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 38208, this pair ranks #287,932 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gray vs greys
Shared letters: gry. Private to "gray": a. Private to "greys": es.
"gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "greys" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gray" and "greys" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gray" or "greys"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "gray" and "greys".
- Full dictionary entry for "gray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "greys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #287,932 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gray" and "greys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "greyish vs greys". 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 #287,932 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.