Which to use
“dens” and “downs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,854
- “dens” frequency rank
- #7,914
- “downs” frequency rank
- 42768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dens | downs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of den | plural of down |
Where the eye mixes dens and downs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dens runs 4 letters (CVCC) against downs's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dens with downs
A purely visual mix-up. dens (/dɛnz/) and downs (/daʊnz/) 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 42768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dens is recorded at frequency rank #34,854, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛnz/. 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 42768, this pair ranks #246,231 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dens vs downs
Shared letters: dns. Private to "dens": e. Private to "downs": ow.
"dens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "downs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dens" and "downs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dens" or "downs"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dens" 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 #246,231 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dens" and "downs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dens vs DNP". 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 #246,231 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.