Which to use
“dobby” is a noun and “downy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,337
- “dobby” frequency rank
- #47,024
- “downy” frequency rank
- 92361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dobby | downy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A device in some looms that allows the weaving of small geometric patterns. | Having down, covered with a soft fuzzy coating as of small feathers or hair. |
Letter map: dobby vs downy
Shared letters muted; letters that set dobby and downy apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. dobby and downy follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - dobby and downy
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dobby is anoun and downyanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dobby is recorded at frequency rank #45,337, classified as anoun. downy is at rank #47,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdaʊni/.
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 92361, this pair ranks #2,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dobby vs downy
Shared letters: doy. Private to "dobby": b. Private to "downy": nw.
"dobby" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "downy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dobby" and "downy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dobby" or "downy"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "dobby" and "downy". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "dobby" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "downy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dobby" and "downy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Downie 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 #2,651 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.