Which to use
“defuse” is a verb and “demure” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,609
- “defuse” frequency rank
- #49,286
- “demure” frequency rank
- 82895
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defuse | demure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove the fuse from (e.g. a bomb). | Modest, quiet, reserved, or serious. |
Where the eye mixes defuse and demure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. defuse and demure follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between defuse and demure
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defuse is /diːˈfjuːz/ while demure is /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defuse is recorded at frequency rank #33,609, classified as averb, pronounced /diːˈfjuːz/. demure is at rank #49,286, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/.
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 82895, this pair ranks #14,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defuse vs demure
Shared letters: deu. Private to "defuse": fs. Private to "demure": mr.
"defuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "demure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "defuse" and "demure" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "defuse" or "demure"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "defuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defuse" and "demure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defuse vs douse". 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 #14,869 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.