Which to use
“rabies” and “Raines” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,323
- “rabies” frequency rank
- #40,864
- “Raines” frequency rank
- 62187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rabies | Raines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An infectious disease caused by species of Lyssavirus that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals and people, characterised by abnormal behaviour such as biting, excitement, aggressiveness, and dementia, followed by paralysis and death. | A type of fine linen once imported from France. |
Where the eye mixes rabies and Raines
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rabies (CVCVVC) and Raines (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: rabies vs Raines
A purely visual mix-up. rabies (/ˈɹeɪ.biːz/) and Raines (/ɹeɪnz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rabies is recorded at frequency rank #21,323, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪ.biːz/. Raines is at rank #40,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪnz/.
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 62187, this pair ranks #89,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rabies vs Raines
Shared letters: aeirs. Private to "rabies": b. Private to "Raines": n.
"rabies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "Raines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rabies" for "Raines" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rabies" or "Raines"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rabies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Raines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rabies" and "Raines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Raines vs rakes". 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 #89,887 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.