Which to use
“den” is a noun and “Devon” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,004
- “den” frequency rank
- #9,033
- “Devon” frequency rank
- 16037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | Devon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment. | A county of England bordered by Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, the Bristol Channel and the English Channel. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set den and Devon apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
den and Devon form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #7,004, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛn/. Devon is at rank #9,033, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈdɛv.ən/.
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 16037, this pair ranks #460,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "den" and "Devon" be used interchangeably?
Remembering den vs Devon
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “den”; for a name, it's “Devon”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “den” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable