Which to use
“Dalek” and “dates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,675
- “Dalek” frequency rank
- #2,783
- “dates” frequency rank
- 38458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dalek | dates |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | plural of date |
Where the eye mixes Dalek and dates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Dalek vs dates
A purely visual mix-up. Dalek (/ˈdɑːlɛk/) and dates (/deɪts/) 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 38458, 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/. dates is at rank #2,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced /deɪts/.
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 38458, this pair ranks #285,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Dalek vs dates
Shared letters: ade. Private to "Dalek": kl. Private to "dates": st.
"Dalek" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dalek" for "dates" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "Dalek" or "dates" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Dalek" and "dates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dalek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dalek" and "dates" 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 #285,730 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.