Which to use
“race” and “roc” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #882
- “race” frequency rank
- #19,439
- “roc” frequency rank
- 20321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | race | roc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective. | An enormous mythical bird in Eastern legend. |
Where the eye mixes race and roc
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between race and roc
A purely visual mix-up. race (/ɹeɪs/) and roc (/ɹɒk/) 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 20321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
race is recorded at frequency rank #882, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪs/. roc is at rank #19,439, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɒk/.
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 20321, this pair ranks #431,892 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of race vs roc
Shared letters: cr. Private to "race": ae. Private to "roc": o.
"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "roc" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- race ← arce · racce · raec · rcae · rrace
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "race" and "roc" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "race" or "roc" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "race" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "roc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,892 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "race" and "roc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roc vs Rua". 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 #431,892 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.