Which to use
“devs” and “dregs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,614
- “devs” frequency rank
- #45,900
- “dregs” frequency rank
- 79514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devs | dregs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dev | The sediment settled at the bottom of a liquid; the lees in a container of unfiltered wine. |
Where the eye mixes devs and dregs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devs with dregs
A purely visual mix-up. devs (/dɛvz/) and dregs (/dɹɛɡz/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devs is recorded at frequency rank #33,614, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛvz/. dregs is at rank #45,900, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɹɛɡz/.
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 79514, this pair ranks #21,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of devs vs dregs
Shared letters: des. Private to "devs": v. Private to "dregs": gr.
"devs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dregs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devs" for "dregs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "devs" vs "dregs" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "devs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dregs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devs" and "dregs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dings vs dregs". 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 #21,877 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.