donevsdunkWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: done is a adjective, dunk is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“done” is an adjective and “dunk” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#236
“done” frequency rank
#14,112
“dunk” frequency rank
14348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature done dunk
Definition Having completed or finished an activity. To submerge briefly in a liquid.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set done and dunk apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
done
4 ch
dunk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

done and dunk form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

done is recorded at frequency rank #236, classified as anadj, pronounced /dʌn/. dunk is at rank #14,112, tagged as averb, pronounced /dʌŋk/.

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 14348, this pair ranks #470,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

done#236
dunk#14,112

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "done" and "dunk" be used interchangeably?
No, "done" and "dunk" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering done vs dunk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “done”; for a verb, it's “dunk”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “done” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list