dank
/ˈdæŋk/
"dank" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dank” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,602. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20,602
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Dark, damp and humid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dank · dank · English
dank · rank #20,602 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #20,602
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Daphne
Nearest frequency peer: Daphne (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “dank”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- culmination
culmination
79,402 corpus weight
- curing
curing
79,401 corpus weight
- dank
dank
79,399 corpus weight
- Daphne
Daphne
79,398 corpus weight
- decompositi…
decomposition
79,397 corpus weight
- dehydrated
dehydrated
79,396 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “dank” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dank |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdæŋk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #20,602 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dank” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around dank (IPA /ˈdæŋk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,602 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dank, with forms such as "adnk", "dakn", and "dankk". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "day", "don", "DNA", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English danke (“wet, damp; dampness, moisture”), probably from North Germanic, related to Swedish dank (“marshy spot”), Icelandic dökk (“pool”), Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, depression”), from Proto-Germanic *dankwaz (“dark”). However, some trace it to… The correct English form is dank, spelled D-A-N-K.
Definition
- 1Dark, damp and humid.
- 2Moist and sticky, (by extension) highly potent.
- 3Great, awesome.
- 4Expounding right-wing views in a cool way; based.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dank appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The dank cave was chilly and spooky.
Now that the fields are dank and ways are mire.
Etymology
From Middle English danke (“wet, damp; dampness, moisture”), probably from North Germanic, related to Swedish dank (“marshy spot”), Icelandic dökk (“pool”), Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, depression”), from Proto-Germanic *dankwaz (“dark”). However, some trace it to a West Germanic source such as Dutch damp (“vapor”) or Middle High German damph, both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dampaz (“smoke, steam, vapor”). Modern slang senses derived from the drug sense; compare based (“awesome, especially in a right-wing context online”) from drug terminology freebased.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- adnk
- dakn
- dankk
- dannk
- ddank
- dnak
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dank - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dank", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.