Which to use
“dunk” is a noun and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,992
- “dunk” frequency rank
- #940
- “dur” frequency rank
- 45932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dunk | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Désigne un smash au jeu de basket. | Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer. |
Where the eye mixes dunk and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dunk with dur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dunk is \dœŋk\ while dur is \dyʁ\. 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 45932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dunk is recorded at frequency rank #44,992, classified as anoun, pronounced \dœŋk\. dur is at rank #940, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyʁ\.
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 45932, this pair ranks #198,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dunk vs dur
Shared letters: du. Private to "dunk": kn. Private to "dur": r.
"dunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dunk ← ddunk · dnuk · dukn · dunkk · dunnk · udnk
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dunk" and "dur" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dunk" or "dur"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dunk" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drunk vs dunk". 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 #198,933 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.