Which to use
“delete” and “deplete” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,935
- “delete” frequency rank
- #44,159
- “deplete” frequency rank
- 49094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delete | deplete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device. | To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something) |
Where the eye mixes delete and deplete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. delete runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against deplete's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: delete vs deplete
A purely visual mix-up. delete (/dɪˈliːt/) and deplete (/dɪˈpliːt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delete is recorded at frequency rank #4,935, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈliːt/. deplete is at rank #44,159, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpliːt/.
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 49094, this pair ranks #186,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delete vs deplete
Shared letters: delt. Private to "delete": -. Private to "deplete": p.
"delete" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "deplete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delete" and "deplete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "delete" or "deplete" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "delete" and "deplete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "delete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deplete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #186,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delete" and "deplete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deflate vs deplete". 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 #186,897 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.