Which to use
“devote” is a verb and “devout” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,311
- “devote” frequency rank
- #18,539
- “devout” frequency rank
- 32850
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devote | devout |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter; to consecrate. | Devoted to religion or to religious feelings and duties; pious; extremely religious; godly. |
Where the eye mixes devote and devout
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devote with devout
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devote is /dɪˈvəʊt/ while devout is /dɪˈvaʊt/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32850, 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/. devout is at rank #18,539, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈvaʊt/.
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 32850, this pair ranks #334,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devote vs devout
Shared letters: deotv. Private to "devote": -. Private to "devout": u.
"devote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devout" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devote" and "devout" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "devote" vs "devout" - 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 "devout" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devote" and "devout" 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 #334,370 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.