dudavsdukeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#656
“duda” frequency rank
#17,119
“duke” frequency rank
17775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duda duke
Definition Acción o efecto de dudar. Dificultad para elegir entre dos o más opciones, o suspensión de tal decisión. Duque.

Where the eye mixes duda and duke

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

4 ch
duda
4 ch
duke

Why the eye confuses duda with duke

A purely visual mix-up. duda ([ˈd̪uð̞a]) 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 17775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duda is recorded at frequency rank #656, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪uð̞a]. 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 17775, this pair ranks #270,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of duda vs duke

Shared letters: du. Private to "duda": a. Private to "duke": ek.

"duda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "duke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dudaddua · dduda · duad · dudda · udda
  • dukedduke · dkue · duek · dukke · udke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duda" and "duke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪uð̞a] versus /djuːk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duda" or "duke"?
"duda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #656 in our Spanish list, against #17,119 for "duke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "duda" 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 #270,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duda" 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 #270,742 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