ductvsduhWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: duct is a noun, duh is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“duct” is a noun and “duh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,330
“duct” frequency rank
#12,961
“duh” frequency rank
26291
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duct duh
Definition A pipe, tube or canal which carries gas or liquid from one place to another. A disdainful indication that something is obvious.

Where the eye mixes duct and duh

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

4 ch
duct
3 ch
duh

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duct is /dʌkt/ while duh is /dɜː/. 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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duct is recorded at frequency rank #13,330, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʌkt/. duh is at rank #12,961, tagged as anintj, pronounced /dɜː/.

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 26291, this pair ranks #387,800 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of duct vs duh

Shared letters: du. Private to "duct": ct. Private to "duh": h.

"duct" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "duh" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ductdcut · dduct · ducct · ductt · dutc · udct

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duct" and "duh" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "duct" is a noun and "duh" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "duct" or "duh"?
"duh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,961 in our English list, against #13,330 for "duct". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "duct" and "duh". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "duct" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #387,800 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duct" and "duh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs duh". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list