Which to use
“deviate” and “devise” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,751
- “deviate” frequency rank
- #22,645
- “devise” frequency rank
- 49396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deviate | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To go off course from; to change course; to change plans. | To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something). |
Where the eye mixes deviate and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: deviate vs devise
A purely visual mix-up. deviate (/ˈdiː.vi.eɪt/) 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 49396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deviate is recorded at frequency rank #26,751, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdiː.vi.eɪt/. 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 49396, this pair ranks #184,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deviate vs devise
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "deviate": at. Private to "devise": s.
"deviate" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deviate" for "devise" ever safe?
Which is more common, "deviate" or "devise"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "deviate" and "devise" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deviate" 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 #184,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deviate" and "devise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deviate 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 #184,029 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.