Which to use
“defuse” and “depose” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,609
- “defuse” frequency rank
- #43,107
- “depose” frequency rank
- 76716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defuse | depose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove the fuse from (e.g. a bomb). | To put down; to lay down; to deposit; to lay aside; to put away. |
Where the eye mixes defuse and depose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. defuse and depose 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 depose
A purely visual mix-up. defuse (/diːˈfjuːz/) and depose (/dɪˈpəʊz/) 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 76716, 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/. depose is at rank #43,107, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpəʊz/.
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 76716, this pair ranks #29,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defuse vs depose
Shared letters: des. Private to "defuse": fu. Private to "depose": op.
"defuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "depose" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defuse" and "depose" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "defuse" vs "depose" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "defuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "depose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defuse" and "depose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defuse vs demure". 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 #29,320 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.