Which to use
“deeds” is a noun and “deems” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,731
- “deeds” frequency rank
- #25,348
- “deems” frequency rank
- 35079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deeds | deems |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of deed | third-person singular simple present indicative of deem |
Where the eye mixes deeds and deems
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses deeds with deems
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deeds is /diːdz/ while deems is /diːmz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “deeds” becomes m in “deems”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deeds is recorded at frequency rank #9,731, classified as anoun, pronounced /diːdz/. deems is at rank #25,348, tagged as averb, pronounced /diːmz/.
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 35079, this pair ranks #315,086 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deeds vs deems
Shared letters: des. Private to "deeds": -. Private to "deems": m.
"deeds" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "deems" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deeds" and "deems" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "deeds" vs "deems" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "deeds" and "deems" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deeds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deems" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,086 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deeds" and "deems" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deems vs dregs". 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 #315,086 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.