dusky
/ˈdʌs.ki/
"dusky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dusky” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #35,700. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #35,700
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening).
Corpus desk
Index EN-dusky · dusky · English
dusky · rank #35,700 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #35,700
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Durand
Nearest frequency peer: Durand (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “dusky”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- droids
droids
64,304 corpus weight
- Dundas
Dundas
64,303 corpus weight
- Durand
Durand
64,302 corpus weight
- dusky
dusky
64,301 corpus weight
- dystrophy
dystrophy
64,300 corpus weight
- eastside
eastside
64,299 corpus weight
What this shows “dusky” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | dusky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdʌs.ki/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #35,700 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “dusky”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around dusky (IPA /ˈdʌs.ki/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #35,700 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for dusky, with forms such as "ddusky", "dsuky", and "duksy". 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, "duty", "dust", "dusty", 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 dusk + -y. The correct English form is dusky, spelled D-U-S-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening).
- 2Having a shade of color that is rather dark.
- 3Dark-skinned.
- 4Ashen; having a greyish skin coloration.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dusky appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I like it when it is dusky, just before the street lights come on.
A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
Etymology
From dusk + -y.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddusky
- dsuky
- duksy
- duskky
- duskyy
- dussky
- dusyk
- udsky
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dusky - 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.
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 "dusky"?
What does "dusky" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dusky", 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 (8 here; floor ≥5).