Which to use
“dumb” and “dur” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,788
- “dumb” frequency rank
- #39,793
- “dur” frequency rank
- 42581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dumb | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unable to speak; lacking power of speech. | Major; in the major mode. |
Where the eye mixes dumb and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dumb and dur
A purely visual mix-up. dumb (/dʌm/) and dur (/duːɹ/) 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 42581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dumb is recorded at frequency rank #2,788, classified as anadj, pronounced /dʌm/. dur is at rank #39,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced /duːɹ/.
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 42581, this pair ranks #247,883 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dumb vs dur
Shared letters: du. Private to "dumb": bm. Private to "dur": r.
"dumb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dumb ← ddumb · dmub · dubm · dumbb · dummb · udmb
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dumb" and "dur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dumb" vs "dur" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dumb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,883 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dumb" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs dur". 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 #247,883 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.