Which to use
“gray” and “grimy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,304
- “gray” frequency rank
- #38,870
- “grimy” frequency rank
- 42174
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gray | grimy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of a colour between black and white, having neutral hue and intermediate brightness. | Stained or covered with grime. |
Where the eye mixes gray and grimy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gray runs 4 letters (CCVV) against grimy's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gray with grimy
A purely visual mix-up. gray (/ɡɹeɪ/) and grimy (/ˈɡɹaɪmi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42174, 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/. grimy is at rank #38,870, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɹaɪmi/.
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 42174, this pair ranks #251,649 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gray vs grimy
Shared letters: gry. Private to "gray": a. Private to "grimy": im.
"gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "grimy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gray" for "grimy" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "gray" or "grimy" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grimy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,649 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gray" and "grimy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grimly vs grimy". 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 #251,649 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.