devolvedvsdevotedConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,424
“devolved” frequency rank
#5,318
“devoted” frequency rank
29742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devolved devoted
Definition simple past and past participle of devolve simple past and past participle of devote

Letter map: devolved vs devoted

Shared letters muted; letters that set devolved and devoted apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

8 ch
devolved
7 ch
devoted

Spelling & dictionary notes on devolved vs devoted

devolved and devoted are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devolved is recorded at frequency rank #24,424, classified as averb. 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 29742, this pair ranks #360,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of devolved vs devoted

Shared letters: deov. Private to "devolved": l. Private to "devoted": t.

"devolved" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "devoted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devolvedddevolved · deovlved · devloved · devolevd · devollved · devolvde · devolvedd · devolvved
  • devotedddevoted · deovted · devoetd · devotde · devotedd · devotted · devtoed · devvoted

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "devolved" and "devoted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "devolved" 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 #24,424 for "devolved". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "devolved" and "devoted".

  • Full dictionary entry for "devolved" 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 #360,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devolved" and "devoted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delved vs devolved". 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 #360,447 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