docketvsdonkeyConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,633
“docket” frequency rank
#12,581
“donkey” frequency rank
42214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature docket donkey
Definition A summary; a brief digest. A domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse.

Where the eye mixes docket and donkey

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
docket
6 ch
donkey

Visual trap between docket and donkey

A purely visual mix-up. docket (/ˈdɒk.ɪt/) and donkey (/ˈdɒŋki/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

docket is recorded at frequency rank #29,633, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɒk.ɪt/. donkey is at rank #12,581, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɒŋki/.

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 42214, this pair ranks #251,275 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of docket vs donkey

Shared letters: deko. Private to "docket": ct. Private to "donkey": ny.

"docket" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "donkey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • docketdcoket · ddocket · doccket · docekt · dockett · dockket · dockte · dokcet
  • donkeyddonkey · dnokey · dokney · doneky · donkeyy · donkkey · donkye · donnkey

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "docket" for "donkey" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdɒk.ɪt/ versus /ˈdɒŋki/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "docket" or "donkey"?
"donkey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,581 in our English list, against #29,633 for "docket". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "docket" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "donkey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,275 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "docket" and "donkey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dickey vs docket". 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 #251,275 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