Which to use
“dashes” and “dates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,005
- “dashes” frequency rank
- #2,783
- “dates” frequency rank
- 36788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dashes | dates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dash | plural of date |
Where the eye mixes dashes and dates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dashes and dates
A purely visual mix-up. dashes (/ˈdæʃɪz/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dashes is recorded at frequency rank #34,005, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdæʃɪz/. 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 36788, this pair ranks #300,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dashes vs dates
Shared letters: ades. Private to "dashes": h. Private to "dates": t.
"dashes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dashes" and "dates" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dashes" vs "dates" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dashes" and "dates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dashes" 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 #300,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dashes" and "dates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dashes vs dished". 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 #300,137 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.