DetailvsdevilWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Detail” and “devil” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,503
“Detail” frequency rank
#31,506
“devil” frequency rank
36009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Detail devil
Definition Einzelheit, Einzelnes (so wie bspw.: im Detail = im Einzelnen), Kleinigkeit; auch: charakterisierendes Element der Teufel

Where the eye mixes Detail and devil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Detail
5 ch
devil

Visual trap between Detail and devil

A purely visual mix-up. Detail ([deˈtaɪ̯]) and devil ([devl]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Detail is recorded at frequency rank #4,503, classified as anoun, pronounced [deˈtaɪ̯]. devil is at rank #31,506, tagged as anoun, pronounced [devl].

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 36009, this pair ranks #1,626,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Detail vs devil

Shared letters: deil. Private to "Detail": at. Private to "devil": v.

"Detail" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Detailddetail · deatil · detaill · detali · detial · dettail · dteail · edtail
  • devilddevil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Detail" and "devil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([deˈtaɪ̯] versus [devl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Detail" or "devil"?
"Detail" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,503 in our German list, against #31,506 for "devil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Detail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,626,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Detail" and "devil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devil vs devot". 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 #1,626,234 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list