Which to use
“dikes” and “dimes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,870
- “dikes” frequency rank
- #31,512
- “dimes” frequency rank
- 81382
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dikes | dimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dike | plural of dime |
Letter map: dikes vs dimes
Shared letters muted; letters that set dikes and dimes apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. dikes and dimes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Spelling & dictionary notes on dikes vs dimes
dikes and dimes are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - k in “dikes” becomes m in “dimes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dikes is recorded at frequency rank #49,870, classified as anoun. dimes is at rank #31,512, tagged as anoun, pronounced /daɪmz/.
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 81382, this pair ranks #17,795 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dikes vs dimes
Shared letters: deis. Private to "dikes": k. Private to "dimes": m.
"dikes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dimes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dikes" for "dimes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dikes" vs "dimes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "dikes" vs "dimes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "dikes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,795 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dikes" and "dimes" 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 #17,795 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.