Which to use
“dob” is a verb and “down” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,170
- “dob” frequency rank
- #137
- “down” frequency rank
- 44307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dob | down |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To report a person to someone in authority for a wrongdoing. (For transitive forms see dob in, dob on.) | From a higher position to a lower one; downwards. |
Where the eye mixes dob and down
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dob with down
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dob is /dɑb/ while down is /daʊn/. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44307, 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/. down is at rank #137, tagged as anadv, pronounced /daʊn/.
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 44307, this pair ranks #231,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dob vs down
Shared letters: do. Private to "dob": b. Private to "down": nw.
"dob" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "down" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- down ← ddown · donw · downn · dowwn · dwon · odwn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dob" and "down" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dob" or "down"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dob" and "down" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "down" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dob" and "down" 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 #231,845 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.