Which to use
“Dawes” is a name and “downs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,506
- “Dawes” frequency rank
- #7,914
- “downs” frequency rank
- 36420
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dawes | downs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname originating as a patronymic. | plural of down |
Where the eye mixes Dawes and downs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Dawes (CVCVC) and downs (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Dawes vs downs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dawes is /dɔːz/ while downs is /daʊnz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dawes is recorded at frequency rank #28,506, classified as aname, pronounced /dɔːz/. downs is at rank #7,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced /daʊnz/.
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 36420, this pair ranks #303,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Dawes vs downs
Shared letters: dsw. Private to "Dawes": ae. Private to "downs": no.
"Dawes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "downs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dawes" for "downs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Dawes" or "downs"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Dawes" and "downs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dawes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "downs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dawes" and "downs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dawes vs dikes". 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 #303,374 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.