Which to use
“dob” is a verb and “dory” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,170
- “dob” frequency rank
- #25,360
- “dory” frequency rank
- 69530
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dob | dory |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To report a person to someone in authority for a wrongdoing. (For transitive forms see dob in, dob on.) | A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers. |
Where the eye mixes dob and dory
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dob and dory
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dob is /dɑb/ while dory is /ˈdɔːɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69530, 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/. dory is at rank #25,360, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɔːɹi/.
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 69530, this pair ranks #54,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dob vs dory
Shared letters: do. Private to "dob": b. Private to "dory": ry.
"dob" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dory" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dory ← ddory · dorry · doryy · doyr · droy · odry
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dob" for "dory" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dob" vs "dory" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dory" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dob" and "dory" 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 #54,180 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.