Which to use
“delve” is a verb and “devs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,139
- “delve” frequency rank
- #33,614
- “devs” frequency rank
- 57753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delve | devs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To dig into the ground, especially with a shovel. | plural of dev |
Where the eye mixes delve and devs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: delve vs devs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delve is /dɛlv/ while devs is /dɛvz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delve is recorded at frequency rank #24,139, classified as averb, pronounced /dɛlv/. devs is at rank #33,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛvz/.
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 57753, this pair ranks #117,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of delve vs devs
Shared letters: dev. Private to "delve": l. Private to "devs": s.
"delve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "devs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "delve" for "devs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "delve" or "devs"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delve" and "devs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derp vs devs". 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 #117,225 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.