Right or rite?
right is an adjective meaning “Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is…”; rite is a noun meaning “A religious custom”. Use right as an adjective and rite as a noun (right is also a noun: “That which complies with justice, law or reason”). They sound the same (/ɹaɪt/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) right is about 214 times as common as rite.
What is the difference between right and rite?
| right | rite | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, verb | noun, adjective, adverb, interjection |
| Meaning | Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow… Clockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation On the right side | A religious custom A prescribed behavior |
| Example | Near-synonym: starboard | He's rite, you know |
| Forms | righter, rightmost, rightest | rites |
| Pronunciation | /ɹaɪt/ [ɹaɪt] /ɹɑjt/ | /ɹaɪt/ |
| In writing | 912 times per million words | 4.3 times per million words |
Sources: right and rite in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of right and rite
right
- 1
Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow points to the reader's right: →
Near-synonym: starboard
- 2
On the right side
- 3
Yes, that is correct; I agree
Tell her you’re here. Right. Thanks, Pete
- 4
That which complies with justice, law or reason
We're on the side of right in this contest
- 5
To correct
Righting all the wrongs of the war immediately will be impossible
- 6
Clockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation
The road up ahead contains a right bend
- 7
Towards the right side
- 8
I have listened to what you just said and I acknowledge your assertion or opinion, regardless of whether I agree with it (opinion) or can verify it (assertion)
– United's the best team in the country, so they'll come up with something. – Right. And do you think they'll go all the way?
rite
- 1
A religious custom
- 2
informalInformal spelling of right
He's rite, you know
- 3
informalInformal spelling of right
It's rite next to my house
- 4
informalInformal spelling of right
Rite, let's do it
- 5
informalInformal spelling of right
- 6
A prescribed behavior
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, right or rite?
right appears 912 times per million words; rite 4.3 times per million words.
right 912 times per million wordsrite 4.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search right vs rite?
“right vs rite” is searched about 1,000 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“rite vs right”, “right or rite”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.