Which to use
“grey” and “grimy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,105
- “grey” frequency rank
- #38,870
- “grimy” frequency rank
- 41975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grey | grimy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Commonwealth standard spelling of gray. | Stained or covered with grime. |
Where the eye mixes grey and grimy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grey and grimy
A purely visual mix-up. grey (/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 41975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grey is recorded at frequency rank #3,105, 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 41975, this pair ranks #253,444 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grey vs grimy
Shared letters: gry. Private to "grey": e. Private to "grimy": im.
"grey" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "grimy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grey" and "grimy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "grey" or "grimy"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "grey" and "grimy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grey" 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 #253,444 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grey" 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 #253,444 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.