English homophones
dis/diss
"dis" (#10,679 written frequency) beats "diss" (#24,144) in this 2-word /dɪs/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /dɪs/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "dis" leads at #10,679, with "diss" trailing at #24,144.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "dis" then splits - "dis" (3 letters) vs "diss" (4).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across dis, diss: dis. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
dis
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory dis · no private letters vs siblings
diss
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory dis · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "dis" when you mean: Alternative spelling of diss.
- Write "diss" when you mean: To put (someone) down, or show disrespect by the use of insulting language or dismissive behaviour.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
- diss ← ddiss · dsis · idss
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (dis, diss). Here's where to go from here.
- "dis" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #10,679 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: draft · draught. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "dis, diss" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.