den

/dɛn/

//dɛn// noun

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

"den" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“den” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #7,004) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#7,004
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.

Corpus desk

Index EN-den · den · English

den · rank #7,004 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,004
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH delicate

Nearest frequency peer: delicate (-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 “den”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “den” 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).

den vs do
33% similar
den vs Dr
0% similar
den vs di
33% similar

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

Key facts for den
PropertyValue
Headwordden
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɛn/
Letters3
Frequency rank#7,004
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “den”

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).denlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “delicate” (#7,003), “Derek” (#7,005), “desires” (#7,006). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “den” is #7,004. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for den is neighbouring look-alikes ("do", "Dr", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /dɛn/. Frequency #7,004 among 3,470 “D” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for den in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "do", "Dr", "di", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow… The correct English form is den, spelled D-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.
  2. 2
    A squalid or wretched place; a haunt.
  3. 3
    A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.
  4. 4
    Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”).
  5. 5
    A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.
  6. 6
    A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. a den of robbers
  2. Daniel was put into the lions’ den.

Etymology

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).

This word in other languages

madriguera(Español)antre(Français)Höhle(Deutsch)toca(Português)

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 "den"?
"den" is spelled D-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /dɛn/.
What does "den" mean?
As a noun, "den" means: A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.
What words are commonly confused with "den"?
"den" is commonly confused with "do", "Dr", "di". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "den"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "den" is /dɛn/. 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 "den"?
From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denn... 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 "den", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cal#6,995Abu#6,980pad#7,039sen#7,058

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list