Which to use
“desolation” and “devolution” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,804
- “desolation” frequency rank
- #26,752
- “devolution” frequency rank
- 54556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desolation | devolution |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation. | A rolling down. |
Where the eye mixes desolation and devolution
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses desolation with devolution
A purely visual mix-up. desolation (/ˌdɛsəˈleɪʃən/) and devolution (/diːvəˈluːʃən/) 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 54556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desolation is recorded at frequency rank #27,804, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌdɛsəˈleɪʃən/. devolution is at rank #26,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced /diːvəˈluːʃən/.
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 54556, this pair ranks #140,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desolation vs devolution
Shared letters: deilnot. Private to "desolation": as. Private to "devolution": uv.
"desolation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "devolution" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- desolation ← ddesolation · deoslation · desloation · desoaltion · desolaiton · desolasion · desolatino · desolationn
- devolution ← ddevolution · deovlution · devloution · devollution · devoltuion · devoluiton · devolusion · devolutino
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desolation" and "devolution" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "desolation" or "devolution" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "desolation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devolution" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desolation" and "devolution" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deflation vs desolation". 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 #140,182 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.