Which to use
“gray” is a noun and “grey” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,365
- “gray” frequency rank
- #9,689
- “grey” frequency rank
- 20054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gray | grey |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | cinza, cinzento |
Same sound, different letters: gray vs grey
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Homophone desk: gray vs grey
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: gray and grey carry the same recorded pronunciation, /'greɪ/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - a in “gray” becomes e in “grey”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20054, 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/. grey is at rank #9,689, tagged as anadj, pronounced /'greɪ/.
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 20054, this pair ranks #50,554 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gray vs grey
Shared letters: gry. Private to "gray": a. Private to "grey": e.
"gray" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "grey" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gray" and "grey" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "gray" or "grey" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "gray" / "grey". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "gray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,554 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gray" and "grey" 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 #50,554 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.