Which to use
“desired” and “devised” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,492
- “desired” frequency rank
- #13,132
- “devised” frequency rank
- 18624
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desired | devised |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of desire | simple past and past participle of devise |
Where the eye mixes desired and devised
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: desired vs devised
A purely visual mix-up. desired (/dɪˈzaɪəd/) and devised (/dɪˈvaɪzd/) 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 18624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desired is recorded at frequency rank #5,492, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈzaɪəd/. devised is at rank #13,132, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪzd/.
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 18624, this pair ranks #443,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desired vs devised
Shared letters: deis. Private to "desired": r. Private to "devised": v.
"desired" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "devised" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desired" and "devised" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "desired" or "devised" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "desired" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devised" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #443,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desired" and "devised" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiled vs devised". 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 #443,660 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.