Which to use
“devolve” is a verb and “devotee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,886
- “devolve” frequency rank
- #31,509
- “devotee” frequency rank
- 69395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devolve | devotee |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be inherited by someone else; to pass down upon the next person in a succession, especially through failure or loss of an earlier holder. | An ardent enthusiast or admirer. |
Where the eye mixes devolve and devotee
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: devolve vs devotee
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devolve is /dɪˈvɒɫv/ while devotee is /ˌdɛv.əˈtiː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devolve is recorded at frequency rank #37,886, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvɒɫv/. devotee is at rank #31,509, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌdɛv.əˈtiː/.
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 69395, this pair ranks #54,747 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of devolve vs devotee
Shared letters: deov. Private to "devolve": l. Private to "devotee": t.
"devolve" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "devotee" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devolve" and "devotee" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "devolve" or "devotee"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devolve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devotee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,747 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devolve" and "devotee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devalue vs devolve". 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 #54,747 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.