Which to use
“devil” is a name and “devo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,296
- “devil” frequency rank
- #39,776
- “devo” frequency rank
- 44072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devil | devo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The chief devil; Satan. | Devastated. |
Where the eye mixes devil and devo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devil and devo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devil is /ˈdɛvəl/ while devo is /ˈdɛvoʊ/. 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 (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devil is recorded at frequency rank #4,296, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈdɛvəl/. devo is at rank #39,776, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛvoʊ/.
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 44072, this pair ranks #233,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devil vs devo
Shared letters: dev. Private to "devil": il. Private to "devo": o.
"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "devo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devil" and "devo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "devil" vs "devo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "devil" and "devo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "devil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devil" and "devo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Devito vs devo". 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 #233,973 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.