# dire vs dirk

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### dire
*adjective · IPA /ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #11,874*
Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.

### dirk
*noun · IPA /dɜːk/ · frequency rank #16,451*
A long Scottish dagger with a straight blade.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dire-vs-dirk