darevsdashWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dare” and “dash” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,740
“dare” frequency rank
#21,982
“dash” frequency rank
59722
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dare dash
Definition desafio travessão, hífen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dare and dash apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
dare
4 ch
dash

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dare (/deə(ɹ)/) and dash (/ˈdæʃ/) 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 59722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dare is recorded at frequency rank #37,740, classified as anoun, pronounced /deə(ɹ)/. dash is at rank #21,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdæʃ/.

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 59722, this pair ranks #8,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dare vs dash

Shared letters: ad. Private to "dare": er. Private to "dash": hs.

"dare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dareadre · darre · ddare · drae
  • dashadsh · dahs · dashh · dassh · ddash · dsah

Frequency comparison

dare#37,740
dash#21,982

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dare" and "dash" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/deə(ɹ)/ versus /ˈdæʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dare" or "dash"?
"dash" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,982 in our Portuguese list, against #37,740 for "dare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dare vs dash

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 “dare” 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