Which to use
“dug” and “dunk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,784
- “dug” frequency rank
- #14,112
- “dunk” frequency rank
- 22896
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dug | dunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of dig (replacing earlier digged) | To submerge briefly in a liquid. |
Where the eye mixes dug and dunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dug vs dunk
A purely visual mix-up. dug (/dʌɡ/) and dunk (/dʌŋk/) 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 22896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dug is recorded at frequency rank #8,784, classified as averb, pronounced /dʌɡ/. dunk is at rank #14,112, tagged as averb, pronounced /dʌŋk/.
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 22896, this pair ranks #413,251 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dug vs dunk
Shared letters: du. Private to "dug": g. Private to "dunk": kn.
"dug" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dunk ← ddunk · dnuk · dukn · dunkk · dunnk · udnk
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dug" for "dunk" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dug" vs "dunk" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dunk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,251 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dug" and "dunk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DNP vs dunk". 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 #413,251 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.