Which to use
“Dems” and “dey” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,032
- “Dems” frequency rank
- #26,753
- “dey” frequency rank
- 35785
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dems | dey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of Dem | A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid. |
Where the eye mixes Dems and dey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Dems with dey
A purely visual mix-up. Dems (/dɛmz/) and dey (/deɪ/) 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 35785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dems is recorded at frequency rank #9,032, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛmz/. dey is at rank #26,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced /deɪ/.
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 35785, this pair ranks #308,956 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Dems vs dey
Shared letters: de. Private to "Dems": ms. Private to "dey": y.
"Dems" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Dems ← ddems · demms · demss · desm · dmes · edms
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dems" for "dey" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Dems" or "dey"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Dems" and "dey" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dems" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,956 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dems" and "dey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dey vs dox". 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 #308,956 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.