Which to use
“dikes” and “doves” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,870
- “dikes” frequency rank
- #25,361
- “doves” frequency rank
- 75231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dikes | doves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dike | plural of dove |
Letter map: dikes vs doves
Shared letters muted; letters that set dikes and doves apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Pair insight - dikes / doves
dikes and doves 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dikes is recorded at frequency rank #49,870, classified as anoun. doves is at rank #25,361, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dʌvz/.
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 75231, this pair ranks #33,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dikes vs doves
Shared letters: des. Private to "dikes": ik. Private to "doves": ov.
"dikes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "doves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dikes" and "doves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dikes" or "doves"?
After this comparison
Pair "dikes" vs "doves" 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 "doves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dikes" and "doves" 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 #33,792 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.