denyvsdepWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,013
“deny” frequency rank
#31,132
“dep” frequency rank
35145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deny dep
Definition To disallow or reject. Clipping of department.

Letter map: deny vs dep

Shared letters muted; letters that set deny and dep apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
deny
3 ch
dep

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: deny is averb and depanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deny is recorded at frequency rank #4,013, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈnaɪ/. dep is at rank #31,132, tagged as anoun.

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 35145, this pair ranks #314,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deny vs dep

Shared letters: de. Private to "deny": ny. Private to "dep": p.

"deny" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dep" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denyddeny · denny · denyy · deyn · dney · edny

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deny" and "dep" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deny" is a verb and "dep" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deny" or "dep"?
"deny" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,013 in our English list, against #31,132 for "dep". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list