dow

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“dow” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #19,541 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.

#19,541
frequency rank, German
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sehr schwerhörig oder gehörlos

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

dow vs du
33% similar
dow vs Ds
0% similar
dow vs DW
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for dow
PropertyValue
Headworddow
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
Letters3
Frequency rank#19,541
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dow” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). dow lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for dow is 3 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #19,541 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Zero misspellings are on record for dow in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "Ds", "DW", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is dow, spelled D-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    sehr schwerhörig oder gehörlos
  2. 2
    von Gliedern: gefühllos, eingeschlafen
  3. 3
    ohne Kraft/Wirkung/Schwung

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dow"?
"dow" is spelled D-O-W.
What does "dow" mean?
As an adjective, "dow" means: sehr schwerhörig oder gehörlos
What words are commonly confused with "dow"?
"dow" is commonly confused with "du", "Ds", "DW". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "dow" come from?
"dow" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “dow”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is D-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “du” - see the side-by-side comparison. dow vs du
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list