Which to use
“ducks” and “duds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,277
- “ducks” frequency rank
- #39,792
- “duds” frequency rank
- 48069
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ducks | duds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of duck | plural of dud |
Where the eye mixes ducks and duds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ducks runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against duds's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ducks and duds
A purely visual mix-up. ducks (/dʌks/) and duds (/dʌdz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ducks is recorded at frequency rank #8,277, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʌks/. duds is at rank #39,792, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dʌdz/.
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 48069, this pair ranks #196,584 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ducks vs duds
Shared letters: dsu. Private to "ducks": ck. Private to "duds": -.
"ducks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "duds" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ducks" for "duds" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ducks" or "duds"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ducks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,584 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ducks" and "duds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dabs vs duds". 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 #196,584 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.