damvsDMTWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“dam” and “DMT” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,410
“dam” frequency rank
#47,584
“DMT” frequency rank
52994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dam DMT
Definition A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding. Initialism of dimethyltryptamine, a naturally occurring psychedelic drug.

Letter map: dam vs DMT

Shared letters muted; letters that set dam and DMT apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
dam
3 ch
DMT

Corpus notes: dam and DMT

dam and DMT are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dam is recorded at frequency rank #5,410, classified as anoun, pronounced /dæm/. DMT is at rank #47,584, tagged as anoun.

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 52994, this pair ranks #152,526 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dam vs DMT

Shared letters: dm. Private to "dam": a. Private to "DMT": t.

"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "DMT" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dam" for "DMT" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "dam" or "DMT" show up more?
"dam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,410 in our English list, against #47,584 for "DMT". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "dam" and "DMT". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "DMT" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,526 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dam" and "DMT" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DMT vs dox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #152,526 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list