Which to use
“duds” and “dura” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,792
- “duds” frequency rank
- #42,109
- “dura” frequency rank
- 81901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duds | dura |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dud | Ellipsis of dura mater. |
Where the eye mixes duds and dura
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. duds (CVCC) and dura (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: duds vs dura
A purely visual mix-up. duds (/dʌdz/) and dura (/ˈdjʊə.ɹə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duds is recorded at frequency rank #39,792, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʌdz/. dura is at rank #42,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdjʊə.ɹə/.
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 81901, this pair ranks #16,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of duds vs dura
Shared letters: du. Private to "duds": s. Private to "dura": ar.
"duds" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dura" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "duds" and "dura" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "duds" or "dura"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "duds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dura" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duds" and "dura" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dour vs dura". 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 #16,748 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.