Which to use
“drug” is a verb and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,692
- “drug” frequency rank
- #37,461
- “dun” frequency rank
- 76153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drug | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs drag | im Zustand nach Genuss von zu viel Alkohol |
Where the eye mixes drug and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. drug runs 4 letters (CCVC) against dun's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses drug with dun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: drug is [dɹʌɡ] while dun is [duːn]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drug is recorded at frequency rank #38,692, classified as averb, pronounced [dɹʌɡ]. dun is at rank #37,461, tagged as anadj, pronounced [duːn].
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 76153, this pair ranks #290,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of drug vs dun
Shared letters: du. Private to "drug": gr. Private to "dun": n.
"drug" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- drug ← ddrug · drgu · drrug · drugg · durg · rdug
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "drug" and "dun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "drug" vs "dun" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "drug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drug" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dun vs duran". 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 #290,508 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.