dukevsdunkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,358
“duke” frequency rank
#44,992
“dunk” frequency rank
60350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duke dunk
Definition Duc. Désigne un smash au jeu de basket.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
duke
4 ch
dunk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. duke (\djuːk\) and dunk (\dœŋk\) 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 60350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duke is recorded at frequency rank #15,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \djuːk\. dunk is at rank #44,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dœŋk\.

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 60350, this pair ranks #98,049 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of duke vs dunk

Shared letters: dku. Private to "duke": e. Private to "dunk": n.

"duke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dukedduke · dkue · duek · dukke · udke
  • dunkddunk · dnuk · dukn · dunkk · dunnk · udnk

Frequency comparison

duke#15,358
dunk#44,992

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duke" and "dunk" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\djuːk\ versus \dœŋk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duke" or "dunk"?
"duke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,358 in our French list, against #44,992 for "dunk". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering duke vs dunk

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 “duke” 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