Which to use
“demo” and “dey” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,457
- “demo” frequency rank
- #26,753
- “dey” frequency rank
- 33210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demo | dey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A demonstration or visual explanation. | A servant who has charge of the dairy; a dairymaid. |
Where the eye mixes demo and dey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses demo with dey
A purely visual mix-up. demo (/ˈdɛm.əʊ/) and dey (/deɪ/) 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 33210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demo is recorded at frequency rank #6,457, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɛm.əʊ/. dey is at rank #26,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced /deɪ/.
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 33210, this pair ranks #331,384 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demo vs dey
Shared letters: de. Private to "demo": mo. Private to "dey": y.
"demo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- demo ← ddemo · demmo · deom · dmeo · edmo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "demo" and "dey" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "demo" or "dey" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,384 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demo" and "dey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dey vs dox". 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 #331,384 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.