degasvsdentsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: degas is a verb, dents is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“degas” is a verb and “dents” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,085
“degas” frequency rank
#35,681
“dents” frequency rank
77766
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degas dents
Definition To remove the gas from. plural of dent

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degas and dents apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degas
5 ch
dents

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: degas is averb and dentsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degas is recorded at frequency rank #42,085, classified as averb. dents is at rank #35,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛnts/.

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 77766, this pair ranks #26,329 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of degas vs dents

Shared letters: des. Private to "degas": ag. Private to "dents": nt.

"degas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dents" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degasddegas · deags · degass · deggas · degsa · dgeas · edgas
  • dentsddents · dennts · denst · dentss · dentts · detns · dnets · ednts

Frequency comparison

degas#42,085
dents#35,681

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degas" and "dents" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degas" is a verb and "dents" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "degas" or "dents"?
"dents" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,681 in our English list, against #42,085 for "degas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degas vs dents

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “degas”; for a noun, it's “dents”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “degas” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list