Which to use
“rake” is a noun and “raw” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,699
- “rake” frequency rank
- #2,853
- “raw” frequency rank
- 20552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rake | raw |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor. | (of food) Not cooked. |
Where the eye mixes rake and raw
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: rake vs raw
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rake is /ɹeɪk/ while raw is /ɹɔː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rake is recorded at frequency rank #17,699, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪk/. raw is at rank #2,853, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɹɔː/.
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 20552, this pair ranks #430,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rake vs raw
Shared letters: ar. Private to "rake": ek. Private to "raw": w.
"rake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "raw" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rake ← arke · raek · rakke · rkae · rrake
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rake" and "raw" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "rake" or "raw" show up more?
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 "rake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "raw" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rake" and "raw" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rake vs Rhee". 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 #430,321 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.