dubsvsdurConfusable pair

Quick tell: dubs is a noun, dur is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dubs” is a noun and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,523
“dubs” frequency rank
#39,793
“dur” frequency rank
68316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dubs dur
Definition plural of dub Major; in the major mode.

Where the eye mixes dubs and dur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dubs
3 ch
dur

Why the eye confuses dubs with dur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dubs is /dʌbz/ while dur is /duːɹ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dubs is recorded at frequency rank #28,523, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʌbz/. dur is at rank #39,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced /duːɹ/.

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 68316, this pair ranks #59,412 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dubs vs dur

Shared letters: du. Private to "dubs": bs. Private to "dur": r.

"dubs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dubsdbus · ddubs · dubbs · dubss · dusb · udbs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dubs" for "dur" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dubs" is a noun and "dur" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "dubs" vs "dur" - which ranks higher?
"dubs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,523 in our English list, against #39,793 for "dur". 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 "dubs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,412 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dubs" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs dur". 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 #59,412 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