Which to use
“despise” and “devise” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,934
- “despise” frequency rank
- #22,645
- “devise” frequency rank
- 37579
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despise | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To regard with contempt or scorn. | To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something). |
Where the eye mixes despise and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: despise vs devise
A purely visual mix-up. despise (/dɪˈspaɪz/) and devise (/dɪˈvaɪz/) 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 37579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despise is recorded at frequency rank #14,934, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈspaɪz/. devise is at rank #22,645, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪz/.
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 37579, this pair ranks #293,351 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despise vs devise
Shared letters: deis. Private to "despise": p. Private to "devise": v.
"despise" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despise" and "devise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despise" or "devise"?
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 "despise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,351 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despise" and "devise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devise vs Devito". 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 #293,351 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.