raffle
/ˈɹæfl̩/
"raffle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“raffle” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,782 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,782
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | raffle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹæfl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #22,782 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “raffle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for raffle is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹæfl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,782 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for raffle, with forms such as "arffle", "raffel", and "rafflle". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "rifle", "rattle", "Randle", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle (“dice game", also "plundering”), from rafler (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną (“to scratch, touch, pluck out, snatch”), from Proto-Indo… The correct English form is raffle, spelled R-A-F-F-L-E.
Definition
- 1A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
- 2A game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.
- 3The system by which cases are assigned to judges in multi-sala courts.
Etymology
From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle (“dice game", also "plundering”), from rafler (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną (“to scratch, touch, pluck out, snatch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb(h)-, *(s)kerb(h)- (“to turn, bend, shrink”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch raffel (“dice game”), German raffen (“to snatch away, sweep off”), Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat, attack”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: arffle,raffel,rafflle,rafle,raflfe,rfafle,rraffle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of raffle - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "raffle"?
What does "raffle" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "raffle"?
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Using “raffle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-F-F-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹæfl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rifle” - see the side-by-side comparison. raffle vs rifle
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.