Which to use
“duel” and “DUI” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,039
- “duel” frequency rank
- #18,294
- “DUI” frequency rank
- 30333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duel | DUI |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arranged, regular combat between two private persons, often over a matter of honor. | Initialism of driving under the influence [of alcohol or other drugs]: the act of doing so; a charge or conviction for that act. |
Where the eye mixes duel and DUI
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between duel and DUI
A purely visual mix-up. duel (/ˈˈd͡ʒuːəl/) and DUI (/ˌdiː.juːˈaɪ/) 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 30333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duel is recorded at frequency rank #12,039, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈˈd͡ʒuːəl/. DUI is at rank #18,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌdiː.juːˈaɪ/.
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 30333, this pair ranks #355,429 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of duel vs DUI
Shared letters: du. Private to "duel": el. Private to "DUI": i.
"duel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "DUI" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- duel ← dduel · deul · duell · dule · udel
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "duel" and "DUI" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "duel" or "DUI" show up more?
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 "duel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "DUI" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #355,429 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duel" and "DUI" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs DUI". 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 #355,429 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.