Den or din?
den is a noun meaning “A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks…”; din is a noun meaning “A loud noise; a cacophony or loud commotion”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) den is about 2.8 times as common as din.
What is the difference between den and din?
| den | din | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, adverb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment A squalid or wretched place; a haunt To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den | A loud noise; a cacophony or loud commotion To make a din, to resound (of a place) To be filled with sound, to resound |
| Example | a den of robbers | din and bustle |
| Forms | dens | dins |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɛn/ /ˈdɪ̟n/ | /dɪn/ |
| In writing | 10 times per million words | 3.6 times per million words |
Sources: den and din in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of den and din
den
- 1
A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment
a den of robbers
- 2
To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den
- 3
Abbreviation of denier (a unit of weight)
- 4
Alternative form of dene
- 5
Pronunciation spelling of then, representing AAVE, Bermuda English
- 6
A squalid or wretched place; a haunt
a den of vice
- 7
Of an animal, to use as a den; to take up residence in
- 8
A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining
Near-synonyms: family room, sunroom, Florida room, Arizona room, rec room, playroom
din
- 1
A loud noise; a cacophony or loud commotion
din and bustle
- 2
To make a din, to resound
- 3
Alternative spelling of deen (“religion, faith, religiosity”)
- 4
(of a place) To be filled with sound, to resound
- 5
To assail (a person, the ears) with loud noise
- 6
To repeat (something) continuously, as though to the point of deafening or exhausting somebody, or (sometimes particularly) to impress or instill (it, into someone)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, den or din?
den appears 10 times per million words; din 3.6 times per million words.
den 10 times per million wordsdin 3.6 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).