Which to use
“devil” and “devise” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,506
- “devil” frequency rank
- #18,855
- “devise” frequency rank
- 50361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devil | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Teufel | Motto |
Where the eye mixes devil and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devil and devise
A purely visual mix-up. devil ([devl]) and devise ([dǝ.viz]) 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 50361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devil is recorded at frequency rank #31,506, classified as anoun, pronounced [devl]. devise is at rank #18,855, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dǝ.viz].
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 50361, this pair ranks #1,176,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devil vs devise
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "devil": l. Private to "devise": s.
"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devil" and "devise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "devil" vs "devise" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "devil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,176,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devil" and "devise" 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 #1,176,587 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.