Which to use
“deed” and “del” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,352
- “deed” frequency rank
- #4,150
- “del” frequency rank
- 14502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deed | del |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An action or act; something that is done. | The symbol ∇ used to denote the gradient operator. |
Where the eye mixes deed and del
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between deed and del
A purely visual mix-up. deed (/diːd/) and del (/dɛl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deed is recorded at frequency rank #10,352, classified as anoun, pronounced /diːd/. del is at rank #4,150, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛl/.
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 14502, this pair ranks #469,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deed vs del
Shared letters: de. Private to "deed": -. Private to "del": l.
"deed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "del" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deed ← ddeed · dede · deedd · eded
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deed" for "del" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "deed" or "del" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "deed" and "del" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "del" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deed" and "del" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deed vs derp". 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 #469,652 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.