# portrait vs portray

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### portrait
*noun · IPA /ˈpɔːtɹeɪt/ · frequency rank #4,974*
A painting or other picture of a person, especially the head and shoulders.

### portray
*verb · IPA /pɔːˈtɹeɪ/ · frequency rank #12,477*
To paint or draw the likeness of.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/portrait-vs-portray