devisevsdevoteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: devise is a noun, devote is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“devise” is a noun and “devote” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,855
“devise” frequency rank
#49,581
“devote” frequency rank
68436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devise devote
Definition Motto Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs devot

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
devise
6 ch
devote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

devise and devote form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devise is recorded at frequency rank #18,855, classified as anoun, pronounced [dǝ.viz]. devote is at rank #49,581, tagged as anadj, pronounced [deˈvoːtə].

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 68436, this pair ranks #507,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

devise#18,855
devote#49,581

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "devise" and "devote" be used interchangeably?
No, "devise" and "devote" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering devise vs devote

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “devise”; for an adjective, it's “devote”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “devise” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list