Which to use
“dyke” and “dykes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,827
- “dyke” frequency rank
- #33,216
- “dykes” frequency rank
- 51043
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dyke | dykes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A long, narrow hollow dug from the ground to serve as a boundary marker. | plural of dyke |
Where the eye mixes dyke and dykes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dyke vs dykes
A purely visual mix-up. dyke (/daɪk/) and dykes (/daɪks/) 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) - “dyke” sits inside “dykes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dyke is recorded at frequency rank #17,827, classified as anoun, pronounced /daɪk/. dykes is at rank #33,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced /daɪks/.
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 51043, this pair ranks #168,884 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dyke vs dykes
Shared letters: deky. Private to "dyke": -. Private to "dykes": s.
"dyke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dykes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dyke" for "dykes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dyke" or "dykes"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dyke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dykes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #168,884 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dyke" and "dykes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dikes vs dykes". 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 #168,884 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.