devisedvsdevotedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“devised” and “devoted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,132
“devised” frequency rank
#5,318
“devoted” frequency rank
18450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devised devoted
Definition simple past and past participle of devise simple past and past participle of devote

Where the eye mixes devised and devoted

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
devised
7 ch
devoted

Visual trap between devised and devoted

A purely visual mix-up. devised (/dɪˈvaɪzd/) and devoted (/dɪˈvəʊtəd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devised is recorded at frequency rank #13,132, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪzd/. devoted is at rank #5,318, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvəʊtəd/.

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 18450, this pair ranks #444,832 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of devised vs devoted

Shared letters: dev. Private to "devised": is. Private to "devoted": ot.

"devised" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "devoted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devisedddevised · deivsed · deviesd · devisde · devisedd · devissed · devsied · devvised
  • devotedddevoted · deovted · devoetd · devotde · devotedd · devotted · devtoed · devvoted

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "devised" and "devoted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/dɪˈvaɪzd/ versus /dɪˈvəʊtəd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "devised" vs "devoted" - which ranks higher?
"devoted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,318 in our English list, against #13,132 for "devised". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "devised" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devoted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #444,832 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devised" and "devoted" 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 #444,832 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list