doablevsdongleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: doable is a adjective, dongle is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“doable” is an adjective and “dongle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,127
“doable” frequency rank
#45,892
“dongle” frequency rank
73019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doable dongle
Definition Possible to do; feasible. Any small device that plugs into an electronic device, typically a computer, and alters its functionality. Common examples include wireless modems, digital media players, software copy protect devices, and adapters.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set doable and dongle apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
doable
6 ch
dongle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doable is /ˈduː.ə.bəl/ while dongle is /ˈdɒŋɡl̩/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doable is recorded at frequency rank #27,127, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈduː.ə.bəl/. dongle is at rank #45,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɒŋɡl̩/.

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 73019, this pair ranks #41,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of doable vs dongle

Shared letters: delo. Private to "doable": ab. Private to "dongle": gn.

"doable" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "dongle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doabledaoble · ddoable · doabble · doabel · doablle · doalbe · dobale · doible
  • dongleddongle · dnogle · dognle · dongel · donggle · donglle · donlge · donngle

Frequency comparison

doable#27,127
dongle#45,892

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doable" and "dongle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doable" is an adjective and "dongle" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "doable" or "dongle"?
"doable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,127 in our English list, against #45,892 for "dongle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering doable vs dongle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “doable”; for a noun, it's “dongle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “doable” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list