Which to use
“deviate” and “devote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,751
- “deviate” frequency rank
- #14,311
- “devote” frequency rank
- 41062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deviate | devote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To go off course from; to change course; to change plans. | to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter; to consecrate. |
Where the eye mixes deviate and devote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses deviate with devote
A purely visual mix-up. deviate (/ˈdiː.vi.eɪt/) and devote (/dɪˈvəʊt/) 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 41062, 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/. devote is at rank #14,311, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvəʊt/.
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 41062, this pair ranks #261,843 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deviate vs devote
Shared letters: detv. Private to "deviate": ai. Private to "devote": o.
"deviate" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "devote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deviate" and "devote" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "deviate" or "devote" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "deviate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,843 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deviate" and "devote" 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 #261,843 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.