dobbyvsdoryTell them apart

Which to use

“dobby” and “dory” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,337
“dobby” frequency rank
#25,360
“dory” frequency rank
70697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dobby dory
Definition A device in some looms that allows the weaving of small geometric patterns. A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.

Letter map: dobby vs dory

Shared letters muted; letters that set dobby and dory apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
dobby
4 ch
dory

Spelling & dictionary notes on dobby vs dory

dobby and dory are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dobby is recorded at frequency rank #45,337, classified as anoun. 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 70697, this pair ranks #49,494 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dobby vs dory

Shared letters: doy. Private to "dobby": b. Private to "dory": r.

"dobby" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dory" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dobbydboby · ddobby · dobbyy · doby · dobyb · odbby
  • doryddory · dorry · doryy · doyr · droy · odry

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dobby" and "dory" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "dobby" vs "dory" - which ranks higher?
"dory" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,360 in our English list, against #45,337 for "dobby". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "dobby" and "dory".

  • Full dictionary entry for "dobby" 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 #49,494 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dobby" and "dory" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dobby vs downy". 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 #49,494 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list