Which to use
“dicey” is an adjective and “dikes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,110
- “dicey” frequency rank
- #49,870
- “dikes” frequency rank
- 92980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dicey | dikes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fraught with danger. | plural of dike |
Letter map: dicey vs dikes
Shared letters muted; letters that set dicey and dikes apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. dicey (CVCVV) and dikes (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - dicey and dikes
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dicey is anadjective and dikesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dicey is recorded at frequency rank #43,110, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdaɪsi/. dikes is at rank #49,870, 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 92980, this pair ranks #2,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dicey vs dikes
Shared letters: dei. Private to "dicey": cy. Private to "dikes": ks.
"dicey" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "dikes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dicey" and "dikes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "dicey" or "dikes" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "dicey" and "dikes". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "dicey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dikes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dicey" and "dikes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dikes vs dimer". 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 #2,208 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.