DopevsdueWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Dope is a noun, due is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dope” is a noun and “due” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,511
“Dope” frequency rank
#19,191
“due” frequency rank
50702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dope due
Definition allgemein, : Rauschgift fällig

Where the eye mixes Dope and due

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

4 ch
Dope
3 ch
due

Visual trap between Dope and due

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dope is [dɔʊ̯p] while due is [djuː]. 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 50702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dope is recorded at frequency rank #31,511, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɔʊ̯p]. due is at rank #19,191, tagged as anadj, pronounced [djuː].

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 50702, this pair ranks #1,163,734 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dope vs due

Shared letters: de. Private to "Dope": op. Private to "due": u.

"Dope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "due" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dopeddope · doep · doppe · dpoe · odpe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Dope" and "due" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dope" is a noun and "due" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Dope" or "due"?
"due" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,191 in our German list, against #31,511 for "Dope". 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 "Dope" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "due" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,163,734 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dope" and "due" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dope vs dörr". 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 #1,163,734 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list