dare

/dɛə/

//dɛə// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"dare" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dare” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,222) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#4,222
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To have enough courage (to do something).

Corpus desk

Index EN-dare · dare · English

dare · rank #4,222 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,222
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH concerning

Nearest frequency peer: concerning (-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 neighbours of confusable “dare”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “dare” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

dare vs Dr
25% similar
dare vs de
50% similar
dare vs day
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for dare
PropertyValue
Headworddare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɛə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#4,222
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dare” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).darelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “concerning” (#4,221), “database” (#4,223), “define” (#4,224). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for dare is neighbouring look-alikes ("Dr", "de", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /dɛə/. Frequency #4,222 among 3,470 “D” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for dare, with forms such as "adre", "darre", and "ddare". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Dr", "de", "day", 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 durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- exten… The correct English form is dare, spelled D-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To have enough courage (to do something).
  2. 2
    To defy or challenge (someone to do something).
  3. 3
    To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to.
  4. 4
    To terrify; to daunt.
  5. 5
    To drive larks to the ground by scaring them (for instance, with mirrors or hawks) so they can be caught in nets.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dare appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I wouldn't dare (to) argue with my boss.
  2. No one dares (to) criticize his decisions.

Etymology

From Middle English durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- extension of *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). Cognates Cognate with Low German dören, Dutch durven, German turren, Sanskrit दधर्ष (dadhárṣa), but also with Ancient Greek θρασύς (thrasús), Albanian nder, Lithuanian drįsti, Russian дерза́ть (derzátʹ).

This word in other languages

osar(Español)oser(Français)wagen(Deutsch)ousar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • adre
  • darre
  • ddare
  • drae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dare - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

adre2darre1ddare1drae2
Edit distance from "dare"

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dare"?
"dare" is spelled D-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dɛə/.
What does "dare" mean?
As a verb, "dare" means: To have enough courage (to do something).
What words are commonly confused with "dare"?
"dare" is commonly confused with "Dr", "de", "day". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dare" is /dɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dare"?
From Middle English durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dare", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chip#4,219bite#4,213jazz#4,244mask#4,251

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list