Which to use
“dusk” and “dusky” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,221
- “dusk” frequency rank
- #35,700
- “dusky” frequency rank
- 51921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dusk | dusky |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tending to darkness or blackness; moderately dark or black; dusky. | Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening). |
Where the eye mixes dusk and dusky
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dusk runs 4 letters (CVCC) against dusky's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dusk and dusky
A purely visual mix-up. dusk (/dʌsk/) and dusky (/ˈdʌs.ki/) 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 extra letter(s) - “dusk” sits inside “dusky”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dusk is recorded at frequency rank #16,221, classified as anadj, pronounced /dʌsk/. dusky is at rank #35,700, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdʌs.ki/.
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 51921, this pair ranks #161,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dusk vs dusky
Shared letters: dksu. Private to "dusk": -. Private to "dusky": y.
"dusk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dusky" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dusk" and "dusky" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dusk" or "dusky"?
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 "dusk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dusky" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dusk" and "dusky" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dinky vs dusky". 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 #161,374 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.