Which to use
“scratched” and “scratchy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,266
- “scratched” frequency rank
- #37,677
- “scratchy” frequency rank
- 52943
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scratched | scratchy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Produced by scratching. | Characterized by scratches. |
Where the eye mixes scratched and scratchy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. scratched runs 9 letters (CCCVCCCVC) against scratchy's 8 (CCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses scratched with scratchy
A purely visual mix-up. scratched (/skɹæt͡ʃt/) and scratchy (/ˈskɹæt͡ʃi/) 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 52943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scratched is recorded at frequency rank #15,266, classified as anadj, pronounced /skɹæt͡ʃt/. scratchy is at rank #37,677, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈskɹæt͡ʃi/.
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 52943, this pair ranks #152,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scratched vs scratchy
Shared letters: achrst. Private to "scratched": de. Private to "scratchy": y.
"scratched" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC · "scratchy" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scratched" and "scratchy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "scratched" or "scratchy" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "scratched" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scratchy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scratched" and "scratchy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scratchy vs stretchy". 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 #152,935 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.