Which to use
“defend” is a verb and “demand” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,159
- “defend” frequency rank
- #1,523
- “demand” frequency rank
- 4682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defend | demand |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard. | The desire to purchase goods and services. |
Where the eye mixes defend and demand
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: defend vs demand
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defend is /dɪˈfɛnd/ while demand is /dɪˈmɑːnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defend is recorded at frequency rank #3,159, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfɛnd/. demand is at rank #1,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈmɑːnd/.
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 4682, this pair ranks #518,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defend vs demand
Shared letters: den. Private to "defend": f. Private to "demand": am.
"defend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "demand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defend" and "demand" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "defend" or "demand"?
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 "defend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demand" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #518,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defend" and "demand" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demand vs demean". 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 #518,066 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.