Which to use
“demise” is a noun and “devise” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,866
- “demise” frequency rank
- #22,645
- “devise” frequency rank
- 34511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demise | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter. | To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something). |
Where the eye mixes demise and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between demise and devise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demise is /dɪˈmaɪz/ while devise is /dɪˈvaɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “demise” becomes v in “devise”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demise is recorded at frequency rank #11,866, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈmaɪz/. devise is at rank #22,645, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪz/.
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 34511, this pair ranks #320,172 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demise vs devise
Shared letters: deis. Private to "demise": m. Private to "devise": v.
"demise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "demise" and "devise" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "demise" or "devise" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,172 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demise" and "devise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devise vs Devito". 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 #320,172 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.