graffvsgrayWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“graff” and “gray” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,082
“graff” frequency rank
#12,973
“gray” frequency rank
58055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graff gray
Definition Inscription calligraphiée ou dessin tracé, peint ou gravé sur un support inhabituel et qui a vocation artistique. Unité de mesure de dose absorbée du Système international (SI), définie comme valant 1 joule par kilogramme. Son symbole est Gy.

Where the eye mixes graff and gray

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
graff
4 ch
gray

Look-alike desk: graff vs gray

A purely visual mix-up. graff (\ɡʁaf\) and gray (\ɡʁe\) 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 58055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

graff is recorded at frequency rank #45,082, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁaf\. gray is at rank #12,973, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁe\.

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 58055, this pair ranks #111,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of graff vs gray

Shared letters: agr. Private to "graff": f. Private to "gray": y.

"graff" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • graffgarff · ggraff · grfaf · grraff · rgaff
  • grayggray · grayy · grray · grya · rgay

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "graff" and "gray" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁaf\ versus \ɡʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "graff" vs "gray" - which ranks higher?
"gray" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,973 in our French list, against #45,082 for "graff". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "graff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gray" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graff" and "gray" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "GAFA vs graff". 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 #111,329 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list