Which to use
“deft” and “devo” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,012
- “deft” frequency rank
- #39,776
- “devo” frequency rank
- 73788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deft | devo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quick and neat in action; skillful. | Devastated. |
Where the eye mixes deft and devo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. deft (CVCC) and devo (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: deft vs devo
A purely visual mix-up. deft (/dɛft/) and devo (/ˈdɛvoʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deft is recorded at frequency rank #34,012, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɛft/. devo is at rank #39,776, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛvoʊ/.
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 73788, this pair ranks #38,416 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of deft vs devo
Shared letters: de. Private to "deft": ft. Private to "devo": ov.
"deft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "devo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deft" for "devo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "deft" or "devo"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "deft" and "devo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,416 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deft" and "devo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Devito vs devo". 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 #38,416 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.