Which to use
“dour” is an adjective and “dove” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,426
- “dour” frequency rank
- #35,471
- “dove” frequency rank
- 79897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dour | dove |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Austère, dur, inhospitalier. | Douve. |
Letter map: dour vs dove
Shared letters muted; letters that set dour and dove apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. dour (CVVC) and dove (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: dour vs dove
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dour is anadjective and doveanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dour is recorded at frequency rank #44,426, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈdʊə(ɹ)\. dove is at rank #35,471, tagged as anoun.
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 79897, this pair ranks #22,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dour vs dove
Shared letters: do. Private to "dour": ru. Private to "dove": ev.
"dour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dove" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dour" for "dove" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dour" or "dove"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "dour" and "dove".
- Full dictionary entry for "dour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dove" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dour" and "dove" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "domi vs dour". 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 #22,211 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.