Which to use
“dun” is a noun and “dunno” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,810
- “dun” frequency rank
- #10,203
- “dunno” frequency rank
- 29013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dun | dunno |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A brownish grey colour. | Pronunciation spelling of do not know; pronunciation spelling of does not know. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dun and dunno apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
dun and dunno form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dun” sits inside “dunno” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dun is recorded at frequency rank #18,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʌn/. dunno is at rank #10,203, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈdʌnəʊ/.
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 29013, this pair ranks #366,472 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dun" and "dunno" be used interchangeably?
Remembering dun vs dunno
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dun”; for a contraction, it's “dunno”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dun” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable