Which to use
“devote” and “devoted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,311
- “devote” frequency rank
- #5,318
- “devoted” frequency rank
- 19629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devote | devoted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter; to consecrate. | simple past and past participle of devote |
Where the eye mixes devote and devoted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devote and devoted
A purely visual mix-up. devote (/dɪˈvəʊt/) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “devote” sits inside “devoted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devote is recorded at frequency rank #14,311, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvəʊt/. 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 19629, this pair ranks #436,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devote vs devoted
Shared letters: deotv. Private to "devote": -. Private to "devoted": -.
"devote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devoted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devote" and "devoted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "devote" vs "devoted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devote" 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 #436,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devote" and "devoted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Devito vs devote". 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 #436,833 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.