Which to use
“dob” is a verb and “dobby” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,170
- “dob” frequency rank
- #45,337
- “dobby” frequency rank
- 89507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dob | dobby |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To report a person to someone in authority for a wrongdoing. (For transitive forms see dob in, dob on.) | A device in some looms that allows the weaving of small geometric patterns. |
Letter map: dob vs dobby
Shared letters muted; letters that set dob and dobby apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - dob and dobby
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dob is averb and dobbyanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dob” sits inside “dobby”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dob is recorded at frequency rank #44,170, classified as averb, pronounced /dɑb/. dobby is at rank #45,337, tagged as anoun.
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 89507, this pair ranks #5,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dob vs dobby
Shared letters: bdo. Private to "dob": -. Private to "dobby": y.
"dob" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dobby" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dobby ← dboby · ddobby · dobbyy · doby · dobyb · odbby
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dob" for "dobby" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dob" or "dobby"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "dob" and "dobby".
- Full dictionary entry for "dob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dobby" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dob" and "dobby" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dob vs dox". 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 #5,123 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.