dejevsdukeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“deje” and “duke” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,765
“deje” frequency rank
#17,119
“duke” frequency rank
18884
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deje duke
Definition Parte del habla de una lengua que tiende hacia la manera local de hablarla en un lugar. Duque.

Where the eye mixes deje and duke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
deje
4 ch
duke

Why the eye confuses deje with duke

A purely visual mix-up. deje ([ˈd̪exe]) and duke (/djuːk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deje is recorded at frequency rank #1,765, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪exe]. duke is at rank #17,119, tagged as anoun, pronounced /djuːk/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 18884, this pair ranks #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deje vs duke

Shared letters: de. Private to "deje": j. Private to "duke": ku.

"deje" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "duke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dejeddeje · deej · dejje · djee · edje
  • dukedduke · dkue · duek · dukke · udke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deje" and "duke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪exe] versus /djuːk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deje" or "duke"?
"deje" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,765 in our Spanish list, against #17,119 for "duke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deje" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deje" and "duke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dade vs duke". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list