diquevsduquesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,113
“dique” frequency rank
#26,013
“duques” frequency rank
43126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dique duques
Definition Valla hecha para contener el agua. Forma del plural de duque.

Where the eye mixes dique and duques

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
dique
6 ch
duques

Look-alike desk: dique vs duques

A purely visual mix-up. dique ([ˈd̪ike]) and duques ([ˈd̪ukes]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dique is recorded at frequency rank #17,113, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ike]. duques is at rank #26,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ukes].

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 43126, this pair ranks #144,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dique vs duques

Shared letters: dequ. Private to "dique": i. Private to "duques": s.

"dique" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "duques" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diqueddique · diqeu · diqque · diuqe · dqiue · idque
  • duquesdduques · dquues · duqeus · duqques · duquess · duquse · duuqes · udques

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dique" for "duques" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪ike] versus [ˈd̪ukes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dique" vs "duques" - which ranks higher?
"dique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,113 in our Spanish list, against #26,013 for "duques". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #144,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dique" and "duques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "digne vs dique". 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 #144,383 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