Which to use
“devo” is an adjective and “doo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,776
- “devo” frequency rank
- #12,582
- “doo” frequency rank
- 52358
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devo | doo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Devastated. | feces, particularly that of a dog. |
Where the eye mixes devo and doo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devo with doo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devo is /ˈdɛvoʊ/ while doo is /duː/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devo is recorded at frequency rank #39,776, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛvoʊ/. doo is at rank #12,582, tagged as anoun, pronounced /duː/.
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 52358, this pair ranks #157,737 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devo vs doo
Shared letters: do. Private to "devo": ev. Private to "doo": -.
"devo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "doo" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- devo ← ddevo · deov · devvo · dveo · edvo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devo" and "doo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "devo" or "doo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "devo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,737 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devo" and "doo" 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 #157,737 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.