Which to use
“decide” and “devise” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,715
- “decide” frequency rank
- #22,645
- “devise” frequency rank
- 24360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decide | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle. | To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something). |
Where the eye mixes decide and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: decide vs devise
A purely visual mix-up. decide (/dɪˈsaɪd/) and devise (/dɪˈvaɪz/) 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 24360, 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/. devise is at rank #22,645, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪz/.
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 24360, this pair ranks #402,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of decide vs devise
Shared letters: dei. Private to "decide": c. Private to "devise": sv.
"decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "decide" and "devise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "decide" or "devise" show up more?
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 "decide" 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 #402,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decide" and "devise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devise 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 #402,533 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.