Which to use
“defile” is a verb and “demise” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,153
- “defile” frequency rank
- #11,866
- “demise” frequency rank
- 56019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defile | demise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean; to befoul, to soil. | The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set defile and demise apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
defile and demise form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defile is recorded at frequency rank #44,153, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfaɪl/. demise is at rank #11,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈmaɪz/.
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 56019, this pair ranks #129,288 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "defile" and "demise" be used interchangeably?
Remembering defile vs demise
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “defile”; for a noun, it's “demise”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “defile” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable