dent
/dɛnt/
"dent" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dent” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,678. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,678
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A shallow deformation in the surface of an object, produced by an impact.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dent · dent · English
dent · rank #11,678 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,678
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 26,416
- PHOTO-FINISH dell
Nearest frequency peer: dell (-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 “dent”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cosmetics
cosmetics
88,327 corpus weight
- coward
coward
88,326 corpus weight
- dammit
dammit
88,325 corpus weight
- dell
dell
88,324 corpus weight
- dent
dent
88,323 corpus weight
- depart
depart
88,322 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “dent” 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 | dent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɛnt/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,678 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dent” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around dent (IPA /dɛnt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,678 among 26,416 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dent, with forms such as "ddent", "dennt", and "dentt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "DT", "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 dent, dente, dint (“a blow; strike; dent”), from Old English dynt (“blow, strike, the mark or noise of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *duntiz (“a blow”). Akin to Old Norse dyntr (“dint”). Doublet of dint. The correct English form is dent, spelled D-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1A shallow deformation in the surface of an object, produced by an impact.
- 2A minor effect made upon something.
- 3A type of maize/corn with a relatively soft outer hull, and a soft type of starch that shrinks at maturity to leave an indentation in the surface of the kernel.
- 4A sudden negative change, such as loss, damage, weakening, consumption or diminution, especially one produced by an external force, event or action
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dent appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The crash produced a dent in the left side of the car.
to make a dent
Etymology
From Middle English dent, dente, dint (“a blow; strike; dent”), from Old English dynt (“blow, strike, the mark or noise of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *duntiz (“a blow”). Akin to Old Norse dyntr (“dint”). Doublet of dint.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddent
- dennt
- dentt
- detn
- dnet
- ednt
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dent - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 May 6, 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 "dent", 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.