Which to use
“deem” is a verb and “dev” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,536
- “deem” frequency rank
- #10,193
- “dev” frequency rank
- 28729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deem | dev |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To hold in belief or estimation; to adjudge as a conclusion; to regard as being; to evaluate according to one's beliefs; to account. | Clipping of developer. |
Where the eye mixes deem and dev
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deem is /diːm/ while dev is /dɛv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deem is recorded at frequency rank #18,536, classified as averb, pronounced /diːm/. dev is at rank #10,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛv/.
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 28729, this pair ranks #368,769 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deem vs dev
Shared letters: de. Private to "deem": m. Private to "dev": v.
"deem" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dev" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deem ← ddeem · deemm · deme · edem