Which to use
“radius” and “rains” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,847
- “radius” frequency rank
- #9,085
- “rains” frequency rank
- 17932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | radius | rains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The long bone in the forearm, on the side of the thumb. | plural of rain |
Where the eye mixes radius and rains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses radius with rains
A purely visual mix-up. radius (/ˈɹeɪ.di.əs/) and rains (/ɹeɪnz/) 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 17932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
radius is recorded at frequency rank #8,847, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪ.di.əs/. rains is at rank #9,085, 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 17932, this pair ranks #448,239 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of radius vs rains
Shared letters: airs. Private to "radius": du. Private to "rains": n.
"radius" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rains" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "radius" and "rains" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "radius" vs "rains" - which ranks higher?
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 "radius" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #448,239 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "radius" and "rains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rains vs Rina". 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 #448,239 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.