Which to use
“dummies” and “duties” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,500
- “dummies” frequency rank
- #4,153
- “duties” frequency rank
- 25653
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dummies | duties |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dummy | plural of duty |
Where the eye mixes dummies and duties
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dummies runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against duties's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dummies vs duties
A purely visual mix-up. dummies (/ˈdʌmiz/) and duties (/duːtiz/) 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 25653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dummies is recorded at frequency rank #21,500, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdʌmiz/. duties is at rank #4,153, tagged as anoun, pronounced /duːtiz/.
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 25653, this pair ranks #392,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dummies vs duties
Shared letters: deisu. Private to "dummies": m. Private to "duties": t.
"dummies" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "duties" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dummies" and "duties" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dummies" or "duties"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dummies" and "duties" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dummies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duties" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dummies" and "duties" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dumfries vs dummies". 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 #392,650 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.