Which to use
“decided” and “devised” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #846
- “decided” frequency rank
- #13,132
- “devised” frequency rank
- 13978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decided | devised |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of decide | simple past and past participle of devise |
Where the eye mixes decided and devised
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between decided and devised
A purely visual mix-up. decided (/dɪˈsaɪ.dɪd/) and devised (/dɪˈvaɪzd/) 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 13978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decided is recorded at frequency rank #846, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈsaɪ.dɪd/. devised is at rank #13,132, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪzd/.
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 13978, this pair ranks #472,767 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of decided vs devised
Shared letters: dei. Private to "decided": c. Private to "devised": sv.
"decided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "devised" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "decided" and "devised" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "decided" or "devised"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "decided" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devised" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #472,767 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decided" and "devised" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiled vs devised". 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 #472,767 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.