raftvsrasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“raft” and “ras” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,892
“raft” frequency rank
#22,193
“ras” frequency rank
38085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raft ras
Definition A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform. An Ethiopian king or prince.

Letter map: raft vs ras

Shared letters muted; letters that set raft and ras apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
raft
3 ch
ras

Corpus notes: raft and ras

raft and ras are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raft is recorded at frequency rank #15,892, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɑːft/. ras is at rank #22,193, tagged as anoun.

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 38085, this pair ranks #288,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raft vs ras

Shared letters: ar. Private to "raft": ft. Private to "ras": s.

"raft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "ras" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raftarft · rafft · raftt · ratf · rfat · rraft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raft" and "ras" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "raft" vs "ras" - which ranks higher?
"raft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,892 in our English list, against #22,193 for "ras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "raft" and "ras".

  • Full dictionary entry for "raft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #288,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raft" and "ras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ras 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 #288,953 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list