Which to use
“rath” is a noun and “raw” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,411
- “rath” frequency rank
- #2,853
- “raw” frequency rank
- 43264
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rath | raw |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A walled enclosure, especially in Ireland; a ringfort built sometime between the Iron Age and the Viking Age. | (of food) Not cooked. |
Where the eye mixes rath and raw
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rath and raw
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rath is /ɹɑːθ/ 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 43264, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rath is recorded at frequency rank #40,411, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɑːθ/. 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 43264, this pair ranks #241,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rath vs raw
Shared letters: ar. Private to "rath": ht. Private to "raw": w.
"rath" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "raw" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rath ← arth · raht · rathh · ratth · rrath · rtah
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "rath" and "raw" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "rath" vs "raw" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rath" 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 #241,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rath" and "raw" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rapp vs rath". 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 #241,659 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.