Which to use
“despatch” is a noun and “dispatch” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,089
- “despatch” frequency rank
- #10,198
- “dispatch” frequency rank
- 52287
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despatch | dispatch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative form of dispatch. | To send (a shipment) with promptness. |
Same sound, different letters: despatch vs dispatch
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - despatch / dispatch
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: despatch and dispatch carry the same recorded pronunciation, /dɪˈspætʃ/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “despatch” becomes i in “dispatch”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despatch is recorded at frequency rank #42,089, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈspætʃ/. dispatch is at rank #10,198, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈspætʃ/.
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 52287, this pair ranks #158,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despatch vs dispatch
Shared letters: acdhpst. Private to "despatch": e. Private to "dispatch": i.
"despatch" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC · "dispatch" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despatch" and "dispatch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despatch" or "dispatch"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "despatch" / "dispatch". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "despatch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dispatch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despatch" and "dispatch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despatch vs despatches". 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 #158,345 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.