Which to use
“devil” and “Devon” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,506
- “devil” frequency rank
- #23,080
- “Devon” frequency rank
- 54586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devil | Devon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Teufel | die vierte Formation des Paläozoikums von etwa 419,2 bis 358,9 Millionen Jahren |
Where the eye mixes devil and Devon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devil with Devon
A purely visual mix-up. devil ([devl]) and Devon ([deˈvoːn]) 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 54586, 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]. Devon is at rank #23,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced [deˈvoːn].
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 54586, this pair ranks #1,013,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devil vs Devon
Shared letters: dev. Private to "devil": il. Private to "Devon": no.
"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Devon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devil" for "Devon" ever safe?
Frequency check: "devil" vs "Devon" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "Devon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,013,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devil" and "Devon" 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 #1,013,030 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.