dolvsdollyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dol” and “dolly” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,772
“dol” frequency rank
#30,567
“dolly” frequency rank
58339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dol dolly
Definition Toute espèce d’artifice employé pour induire ou entretenir une personne dans une erreur propre à la faire agir contrairement à ses intérêts. Support de caméra sur roues ou rails, souvent muni d’une petite grue d’élévation, permettant de réaliser un travelling sans à-coups.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dol and dolly apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
dol
5 ch
dolly

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dol (\dɔl\) and dolly (\dɔ.li\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “dol” sits inside “dolly”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dol is recorded at frequency rank #27,772, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɔl\. dolly is at rank #30,567, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɔ.li\.

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 58339, this pair ranks #109,657 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dol vs dolly

Shared letters: dlo. Private to "dol": -. Private to "dolly": y.

"dol" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dolly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dollyddolly · dloly · dollyy · doly · dolyl · odlly

Frequency comparison

dol#27,772
dolly#30,567

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dol" and "dolly" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dɔl\ versus \dɔ.li\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dol" or "dolly"?
"dol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,772 in our French list, against #30,567 for "dolly". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dol vs dolly

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dol” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list