Which to use
“dire” and “done” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,874
- “dire” frequency rank
- #236
- “done” frequency rank
- 12110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dire | done |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous. | Having completed or finished an activity. |
Where the eye mixes dire and done
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dire with done
A purely visual mix-up. dire (/ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/) and done (/dʌn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dire is recorded at frequency rank #11,874, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/. done is at rank #236, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dʌn/.
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 12110, this pair ranks #483,367 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dire vs done
Shared letters: de. Private to "dire": ir. Private to "done": no.
"dire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dire" and "done" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dire" vs "done" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "done" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,367 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dire" and "done" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dimer vs dire". 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 #483,367 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.