Which to use
“ragged” is an adjective and “ravaged” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,783
- “ragged” frequency rank
- #23,375
- “ravaged” frequency rank
- 46158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ragged | ravaged |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In tatters, having the texture broken. | simple past and past participle of ravage |
Letter map: ragged vs ravaged
Shared letters muted; letters that set ragged and ravaged apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. ragged runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against ravaged's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: ragged vs ravaged
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ragged is anadjective and ravagedaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ragged is recorded at frequency rank #22,783, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹæɡɪd/. ravaged is at rank #23,375, tagged as averb.
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 46158, this pair ranks #214,394 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ragged vs ravaged
Shared letters: adegr. Private to "ragged": -. Private to "ravaged": v.
"ragged" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "ravaged" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ragged" and "ravaged" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ragged" or "ravaged"?
After this comparison
Pair "ragged" vs "ravaged" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ragged" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ravaged" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #214,394 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ragged" and "ravaged" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ravage vs ravaged". 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 #214,394 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.