decidevsDevineConfusable pair

Quick tell: decide is a verb, Devine is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decide” is a verb and “Devine” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,715
“decide” frequency rank
#27,806
“Devine” frequency rank
29521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decide Devine
Definition To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle. A surname from Irish.

Letter map: decide vs Devine

Shared letters muted; letters that set decide and Devine apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
decide
6 ch
Devine

Grammar separator: decide vs Devine

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decide is averb and Devineaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decide is recorded at frequency rank #1,715, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈsaɪd/. Devine is at rank #27,806, tagged as aname.

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 29521, this pair ranks #362,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decide vs Devine

Shared letters: dei. Private to "decide": c. Private to "Devine": nv.

"decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Devine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decidedceide · ddecide · deccide · decdie · decied · deicde · edcide
  • Devineddevine · deivne · devien · devinne · devnie · devvine · dveine · edvine

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decide" for "Devine" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decide" is a verb and "Devine" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "decide" vs "Devine" - which ranks higher?
"decide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,715 in our English list, against #27,806 for "Devine". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pair "decide" vs "Devine" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Devine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #362,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decide" and "Devine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Devine vs Devito". 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 #362,291 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list