Which to use
“race” and “rule” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #882
- “race” frequency rank
- #1,234
- “rule” frequency rank
- 2116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | race | rule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective. | A regulation, law, guideline. |
Where the eye mixes race and rule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. race (/ɹeɪs/) and rule (/ɹuːl/) 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 2116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
race is recorded at frequency rank #882, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪs/. rule is at rank #1,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹuːl/.
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 2116, this pair ranks #525,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of race vs rule
Shared letters: er. Private to "race": ac. Private to "rule": lu.
"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rule" · 4 letters · shape CVCV