Which to use
“Dalek” is a noun and “dark” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,675
- “Dalek” frequency rank
- #966
- “dark” frequency rank
- 36641
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dalek | dark |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A member of a species of extraterrestrial cyborg mutants who appear in the television programme Doctor Who and are known for travelling in metallic shells, having monotone, mechanically distorted voices, repeating a limited number of phrases, and their fanatical obsession with exterminating other, non-Dalek beings. | Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light. |
Where the eye mixes Dalek and dark
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Dalek vs dark
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dalek is /ˈdɑːlɛk/ while dark is /dɑːk/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dalek is recorded at frequency rank #35,675, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɑːlɛk/. dark is at rank #966, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɑːk/.
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 36641, this pair ranks #301,441 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Dalek vs dark
Shared letters: adk. Private to "Dalek": el. Private to "dark": r.
"Dalek" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dalek" for "dark" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Dalek" vs "dark" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dalek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dark" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,441 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dalek" and "dark" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dalek 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 #301,441 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.