Which to use
“raster” and “rates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,719
- “raster” frequency rank
- #1,406
- “rates” frequency rank
- 48125
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raster | rates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | plural of rate |
Where the eye mixes raster and rates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. raster runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against rates's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses raster with rates
A purely visual mix-up. raster (/ˈɹæstɚ/) and rates (/ɹeɪts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raster is recorded at frequency rank #46,719, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹæstɚ/. rates is at rank #1,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪts/.
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 48125, this pair ranks #196,039 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of raster vs rates
Shared letters: aerst. Private to "raster": -. Private to "rates": -.
"raster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "raster" and "rates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "raster" or "rates" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "raster" and "rates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "raster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,039 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raster" and "rates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rafter vs raster". 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 #196,039 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.