Which to use
“dent” is a noun and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,965
- “dent” frequency rank
- #16,344
- “dun” frequency rank
- 22309
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dent | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit organe composé d’émail, de dentine et d’une pulpe, enchâssés dans la mâchoire, qui sert à inciser, à déchirer, à mâcher les aliments et à mordre. | Marron grisâtre #DAC8AE. |
Where the eye mixes dent and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dent is \dɑ̃\ while dun is \dʌn\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dent is recorded at frequency rank #5,965, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃\. dun is at rank #16,344, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dʌn\.
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 22309, this pair ranks #358,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dent vs dun
Shared letters: dn. Private to "dent": et. Private to "dun": u.
"dent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dent ← ddent · dennt · dentt · detn · dnet · ednt