Which to use
“device” is a noun and “devil” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,150
- “device” frequency rank
- #4,296
- “devil” frequency rank
- 6446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | device | devil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one. | The chief devil; Satan. |
Where the eye mixes device and devil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: device vs devil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: device is /dɪˈvaɪs/ while devil is /ˈdɛvəl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
device is recorded at frequency rank #2,150, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪs/. devil is at rank #4,296, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈdɛvəl/.
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 6446, this pair ranks #511,395 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of device vs devil
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "device": c. Private to "devil": l.
"device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "device" and "devil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "device" vs "devil" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "device" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #511,395 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "device" and "devil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devil 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 #511,395 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.