Which to use
“dais” and “dues” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,873
- “dais” frequency rank
- #17,601
- “dues” frequency rank
- 63474
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dais | dues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A raised platform in a room for a high table, a seat of honour, a throne, or other dignified occupancy, such as ancestral statues; a similar platform supporting a lectern, pulpit, etc., which may be used to speak from. | plural of due |
Where the eye mixes dais and dues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dais vs dues
A purely visual mix-up. dais (/ˈdeɪ.ɪs/) and dues (/djuːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dais is recorded at frequency rank #45,873, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdeɪ.ɪs/. dues is at rank #17,601, tagged as anoun, pronounced /djuːz/.
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 63474, this pair ranks #82,762 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dais vs dues
Shared letters: ds. Private to "dais": ai. Private to "dues": eu.
"dais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dais" for "dues" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dais" vs "dues" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dais" and "dues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,762 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dais" and "dues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dais vs Dalia". 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 #82,762 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.