Which to use
“dumm” is an adjective and “duty” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,472
- “dumm” frequency rank
- #21,948
- “duty” frequency rank
- 23420
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dumm | duty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schwach an Verstand, ohne Intelligenz, ohne Können, unwissend | die moralische oder gesetzliche Pflicht |
Where the eye mixes dumm and duty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dumm with duty
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dumm is [dʊm] while duty is [ˈdjuːti]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dumm is recorded at frequency rank #1,472, classified as anadj, pronounced [dʊm]. duty is at rank #21,948, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdjuːti].
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 23420, this pair ranks #1,861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dumm vs duty
Shared letters: du. Private to "dumm": m. Private to "duty": ty.
"dumm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "duty" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dumm" and "duty" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dumm" or "duty"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dumm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dumm" and "duty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duch vs duty". 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 #1,861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.