Which to use
“wily” is an adjective and “Wray” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,287
- “wily” frequency rank
- #32,658
- “Wray” frequency rank
- 69945
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wily | Wray |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sly, cunning, full of tricks. | A village in Wray-with-Botton parish, City of Lancaster district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD6067). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wily and Wray apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: wily is anadjective and Wrayaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wily is recorded at frequency rank #37,287, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwaɪ.li/. Wray is at rank #32,658, tagged as aname.
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 69945, this pair ranks #52,510 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wily vs Wray
Shared letters: wy. Private to "wily": il. Private to "Wray": ar.
"wily" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Wray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wily" and "Wray" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wily" or "Wray"?
Remembering wily vs Wray
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wily”; for a name, it's “Wray”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wily” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable