Which to use
“dense” is a verb and “dent” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,941
- “dense” frequency rank
- #40,232
- “dent” frequency rank
- 83173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dense | dent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del plural (ustedes) del imperativo afirmativo de darse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico). | Forma del plural de dant ('dientes') |
Where the eye mixes dense and dent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dense with dent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dense is [ˈd̪ẽnse] while dent is [ˈdɛnt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dense is recorded at frequency rank #42,941, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽnse]. dent is at rank #40,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛnt].
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 83173, this pair ranks #8,399 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dense vs dent
Shared letters: den. Private to "dense": s. Private to "dent": t.
"dense" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dense" for "dent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dense" vs "dent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dense" and "dent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,399 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dense" and "dent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déjense vs dense". 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 #8,399 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.