razvsrizWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,750
“raz” frequency rank
#4,181
“riz” frequency rank
25931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raz riz
Definition Courant marin violent qui se fait sentir dans un détroit, dans un canal entre deux terres rapprochées. Dénomination usuelle des plantes du genre Oryza de la famille des Poacées, céréale cultivée dans les terres humides et marécageuses des pays chauds.

Where the eye mixes raz and riz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
raz
3 ch
riz

Look-alike desk: raz vs riz

A purely visual mix-up. raz (\ʁa\) and riz (\ʁi\) 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 a single letter - a in “raz” becomes i in “riz”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raz is recorded at frequency rank #21,750, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa\. riz is at rank #4,181, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁi\.

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 25931, this pair ranks #338,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of raz vs riz

Shared letters: rz. Private to "raz": a. Private to "riz": i.

"raz" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "riz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raz" and "riz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa\ versus \ʁi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "raz" or "riz"?
"riz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,181 in our French list, against #21,750 for "raz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "raz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "riz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #338,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raz" and "riz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RAMQ vs raz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #338,039 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