dory
/ˈdɔːɹi/
"dory" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dory” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,360 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,360
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.
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 | dory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɔːɹi/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #25,360 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dory” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dory is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɔːɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,360 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dory, with forms such as "ddory", "dorry", and "doryy". 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", "dy", "dry", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito. The correct English form is dory, spelled D-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.
Etymology
Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddory,dorry,doryy,doyr,droy,odry
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dory - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “dory”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɔːɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Dr” - see the side-by-side comparison. dory vs Dr
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.