Which to use
“gray” is a noun and “great” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,365
- “gray” frequency rank
- #8,059
- “great” frequency rank
- 18424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gray | great |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unidade no Sistema Internacional de medidas, representado por Gy, que representa a quantidade de energia de radiação ionizante absorvida (ou dose) por unidade de massa, e é definido como a quantidade que deposita 1 joule (J) de energia por quilograma (kg) do meio absorvedor, sendo 1 Gy = 1 J/kg | fantástico, de ótima qualidade |
Where the eye mixes gray and great
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gray vs great
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gray is /'greɪ/ while great is /ɡɹeɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gray is recorded at frequency rank #10,365, classified as anoun, pronounced /'greɪ/. great is at rank #8,059, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹeɪt/.
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 18424, this pair ranks #52,559 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gray vs great
Shared letters: agr. Private to "gray": y. Private to "great": et.
"gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "great" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gray" and "great" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gray" vs "great" - which ranks higher?
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 "gray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "great" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,559 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gray" and "great" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gray vs grip". 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 #52,559 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.