Which to use
“rakes” is a noun and “rarest” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,329
- “rakes” frequency rank
- #26,570
- “rarest” frequency rank
- 67899
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rakes | rarest |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of rake | superlative form of rare: most rare |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rakes and rarest apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rakes is /ɹeɪks/ while rarest is /ˈɹɛɹəst/. 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 67899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rakes is recorded at frequency rank #41,329, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪks/. rarest is at rank #26,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹɛɹəst/.
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 67899, this pair ranks #61,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rakes vs rarest
Shared letters: aers. Private to "rakes": k. Private to "rarest": t.
"rakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "rarest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rakes" and "rarest" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rakes" or "rarest"?
Remembering rakes vs rarest
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “rakes”; for an adjective, it's “rarest”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rakes” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable