douse
/daʊs/
"douse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“douse” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #47,588. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #47,588
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse.
Corpus desk
Index EN-douse · douse · English
douse · rank #47,588 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #47,588
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH downgrading
Nearest frequency peer: downgrading (+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 “douse”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- DMT
DMT
52,417 corpus weight
- Dore
Dore
52,415 corpus weight
- douse
douse
52,413 corpus weight
- downgrading
downgrading
52,412 corpus weight
- dozing
dozing
52,411 corpus weight
- drinkable
drinkable
52,409 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “douse” 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 | douse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /daʊs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #47,588 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “douse” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around douse (IPA /daʊs/), averb. Corpus frequency is #47,588 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for douse, with forms such as "ddouse", "dosue", and "doues". 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, "due", "dude", "duke", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish dunsa (“to plumb down, fall clumsily”), Danish dunse (“to thump”). Compare Old English dwǣsċan (“to extinguish”) and douse below. The correct English form is douse, spelled D-O-U-S-E.
Definition
- 1To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse.
- 2To fall suddenly into water.
- 3To put out; to extinguish.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how douse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Set fire to your matches! / Douse them in gasoline!
swing i' th'air, or douse in water
Etymology
Probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish dunsa (“to plumb down, fall clumsily”), Danish dunse (“to thump”). Compare Old English dwǣsċan (“to extinguish”) and douse below.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddouse
- dosue
- doues
- dousse
- duose
- oduse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of douse - 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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "douse"?
What does "douse" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "douse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "douse". Here's where to go from here.
- "douse" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "due". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #47,588 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.