raidervsrasterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,429
“raider” frequency rank
#46,719
“raster” frequency rank
66148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raider raster
Definition One who engages in a raid; a plunderer. A scanning pattern of parallel lines that form the display of an image projected on a cathode-ray tube of a television set or display screen.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set raider and raster apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
raider
6 ch
raster

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. raider (/ˈɹeɪdɚ/) and raster (/ˈɹæstɚ/) 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 66148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raider is recorded at frequency rank #19,429, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪdɚ/. raster is at rank #46,719, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹæstɚ/.

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 66148, this pair ranks #69,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of raider vs raster

Shared letters: aer. Private to "raider": di. Private to "raster": st.

"raider" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "raster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raiderarider · radier · raidder · raiderr · raidre · raiedr · riader · rraider
  • rasterarster · rasetr · rasster · rasterr · rastre · rastter · ratser · rraster

Frequency comparison

raider#19,429
raster#46,719

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raider" and "raster" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɹeɪdɚ/ versus /ˈɹæstɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "raider" or "raster"?
"raider" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,429 in our English list, against #46,719 for "raster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering raider vs raster

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “raider” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list