Which to use
“scrap” and “spray” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,602
- “scrap” frequency rank
- #23,379
- “spray” frequency rank
- 70981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scrap | spray |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ferraille. | Vaporisateur. |
Where the eye mixes scrap and spray
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between scrap and spray
A purely visual mix-up. scrap (\skʁap\) and spray (\spʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scrap is recorded at frequency rank #47,602, classified as anoun, pronounced \skʁap\. spray is at rank #23,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced \spʁɛ\.
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 70981, this pair ranks #49,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scrap vs spray
Shared letters: aprs. Private to "scrap": c. Private to "spray": y.
"scrap" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "spray" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scrap" for "spray" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scrap" vs "spray" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "scrap" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spray" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scrap" and "spray" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scrap vs strat". 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 #49,246 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.