Which to use
“rabies” and “rates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,323
- “rabies” frequency rank
- #1,406
- “rates” frequency rank
- 22729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rabies | rates |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | plural of rate |
Where the eye mixes rabies and rates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rabies and rates
A purely visual mix-up. rabies (/ˈɹeɪ.biːz/) and rates (/ɹeɪts/) 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 22729, 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/. rates is at rank #1,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪts/.
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 22729, this pair ranks #414,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rabies vs rates
Shared letters: aers. Private to "rabies": bi. Private to "rates": t.
"rabies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rabies" and "rates" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rabies" or "rates"?
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 "rates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rabies" and "rates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabies vs rapier". 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 #414,438 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.