dupervsdupesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: duper is a verb, dupes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“duper” is a verb and “dupes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,569
“duper” frequency rank
#24,552
“dupes” frequency rank
55121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duper dupes
Definition Prendre pour dupe, tromper. Pluriel de dupe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set duper and dupes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
duper
5 ch
dupes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duper is \dy.pe\ while dupes is \dyp\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “duper” becomes s in “dupes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duper is recorded at frequency rank #30,569, classified as averb, pronounced \dy.pe\. dupes is at rank #24,552, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyp\.

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 55121, this pair ranks #129,534 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of duper vs dupes

Shared letters: depu. Private to "duper": r. Private to "dupes": s.

"duper" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dupes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duperdduper · dpuer · duepr · duperr · dupper · dupre · udper
  • dupesddupes · dpues · dueps · dupess · duppes · dupse · udpes

Frequency comparison

duper#30,569
dupes#24,552

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duper" and "dupes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "duper" is a verb and "dupes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "duper" or "dupes"?
"dupes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,552 in our French list, against #30,569 for "duper". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering duper vs dupes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “duper”; for an adjective, it's “dupes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “duper” 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