Which to use
“defy” is a verb and “duty” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,683
- “defy” frequency rank
- #1,994
- “duty” frequency rank
- 18677
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defy | duty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To challenge (someone) or brave (a hazard or opposition). | That which one is morally or legally obligated to do. |
Where the eye mixes defy and duty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defy is /dɪˈfaɪ/ while duty is /ˈdjuː.ti/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defy is recorded at frequency rank #16,683, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfaɪ/. duty is at rank #1,994, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdjuː.ti/.
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 18677, this pair ranks #443,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defy vs duty
Shared letters: dy. Private to "defy": ef. Private to "duty": tu.
"defy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "duty" · 4 letters · shape CVCV