Which to use
“devolution” and “devotion” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,752
- “devolution” frequency rank
- #10,677
- “devotion” frequency rank
- 37429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devolution | devotion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A rolling down. | The act or state of devoting or being devoted. |
Where the eye mixes devolution and devotion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devolution and devotion
A purely visual mix-up. devolution (/diːvəˈluːʃən/) and devotion (/dɪˈvəʊʃən/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devolution is recorded at frequency rank #26,752, classified as anoun, pronounced /diːvəˈluːʃən/. devotion is at rank #10,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈvəʊʃən/.
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 37429, this pair ranks #294,673 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devolution vs devotion
Shared letters: deinotv. Private to "devolution": lu. Private to "devotion": -.
"devolution" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "devotion" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devolution ← ddevolution · deovlution · devloution · devollution · devoltuion · devoluiton · devolusion · devolutino
- devotion ← ddevotion · deovtion · devoiton · devosion · devotino · devotionn · devotoin · devottion
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "devolution" and "devotion" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "devolution" or "devotion"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "devolution" and "devotion" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "devolution" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devotion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,673 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devolution" and "devotion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devaluation vs devolution". 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 #294,673 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.