Which to use
“races” and “racist” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,779
- “races” frequency rank
- #3,522
- “racist” frequency rank
- 7301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | races | racist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of race | A person who believes in or supports racism; a person who believes that a particular race is superior to others, or who discriminates against other races. |
Where the eye mixes races and racist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses races with racist
A purely visual mix-up. races (/ˈɹeɪsɪz/) and racist (/ˈɹeɪ.sɪst/) 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 7301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
races is recorded at frequency rank #3,779, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪsɪz/. racist is at rank #3,522, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪ.sɪst/.
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 7301, this pair ranks #507,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of races vs racist
Shared letters: acrs. Private to "races": e. Private to "racist": it.
"races" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "racist" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "races" for "racist" ever safe?
Frequency check: "races" vs "racist" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "races" and "racist" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "races" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "racist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #507,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "races" and "racist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "races vs rance". 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 #507,714 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.