Which to use
“dodo” is a noun and “down” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,624
- “dodo” frequency rank
- #137
- “down” frequency rank
- 33761
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dodo | down |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large, flightless bird, †Raphus cucullatus, related to the pigeon, that is now extinct (since the 1600s) and was native to Mauritius. | From a higher position to a lower one; downwards. |
Where the eye mixes dodo and down
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dodo vs down
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dodo is /ˈdəʊdəʊ/ while down is /daʊn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dodo is recorded at frequency rank #33,624, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdəʊdəʊ/. 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 33761, this pair ranks #326,638 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dodo vs down
Shared letters: do. Private to "dodo": -. Private to "down": nw.
"dodo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "down" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dodo" and "down" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dodo" or "down"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dodo" and "down" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dodo" 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 #326,638 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dodo" and "down" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dodo 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 #326,638 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.