Which to use
“despised” and “devised” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,773
- “despised” frequency rank
- #13,132
- “devised” frequency rank
- 34905
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despised | devised |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of despise | simple past and past participle of devise |
Letter map: despised vs devised
Shared letters muted; letters that set despised and devised apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Spelling & dictionary notes on despised vs devised
despised and devised are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despised is recorded at frequency rank #21,773, classified as averb. 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 34905, this pair ranks #316,631 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despised vs devised
Shared letters: deis. Private to "despised": p. Private to "devised": v.
"despised" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "devised" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "despised" and "devised" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "despised" or "devised"?
Useful next steps
Pair "despised" vs "devised" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "despised" 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 #316,631 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despised" 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 #316,631 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.