Which to use
“decoy” and “demon” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,424
- “decoy” frequency rank
- #6,458
- “demon” frequency rank
- 33882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decoy | demon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person or object meant to lure somebody into danger. | An evil supernatural being. |
Where the eye mixes decoy and demon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between decoy and demon
A purely visual mix-up. decoy (/ˈdiːkɔɪ/) and demon (/ˈdiː.mən/) 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 33882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decoy is recorded at frequency rank #27,424, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdiːkɔɪ/. demon is at rank #6,458, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdiː.mən/.
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 33882, this pair ranks #325,557 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of decoy vs demon
Shared letters: deo. Private to "decoy": cy. Private to "demon": mn.
"decoy" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "demon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "decoy" and "demon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "decoy" vs "demon" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "decoy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,557 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decoy" and "demon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decoy vs decry". 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 #325,557 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.