Which to use
“depose” and “devote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,107
- “depose” frequency rank
- #14,311
- “devote” frequency rank
- 57418
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | depose | devote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To put down; to lay down; to deposit; to lay aside; to put away. | to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter; to consecrate. |
Where the eye mixes depose and devote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses depose with devote
A purely visual mix-up. depose (/dɪˈpəʊz/) and devote (/dɪˈvəʊt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
depose is recorded at frequency rank #43,107, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpəʊz/. devote is at rank #14,311, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvəʊt/.
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 57418, this pair ranks #119,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of depose vs devote
Shared letters: deo. Private to "depose": ps. Private to "devote": tv.
"depose" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "depose" and "devote" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "depose" or "devote"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "depose" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "depose" and "devote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "depose vs Devos". 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 #119,400 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.