Which to use
“dikes” and “dips” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,870
- “dikes” frequency rank
- #19,576
- “dips” frequency rank
- 69446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dikes | dips |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dike | plural of dip |
Letter map: dikes vs dips
Shared letters muted; letters that set dikes and dips apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Spelling & dictionary notes on dikes vs dips
dikes and dips 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dikes is recorded at frequency rank #49,870, classified as anoun. dips is at rank #19,576, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪps/.
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 69446, this pair ranks #54,523 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dikes vs dips
Shared letters: dis. Private to "dikes": ek. Private to "dips": p.
"dikes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dips" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dikes" for "dips" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "dikes" or "dips" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "dikes" vs "dips" 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 "dips" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,523 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dikes" and "dips" 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 #54,523 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.