Which to use
“evict” is a verb and “evil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,031
- “evict” frequency rank
- #1,859
- “evil” frequency rank
- 31890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | evict | evil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To expel (one or more people) from their property; to force (one or more people) to move out. | Intending to harm; malevolent. |
Where the eye mixes evict and evil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: evict vs evil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: evict is /ɨˈvɪkt/ while evil is /ˈiː.vəl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
evict is recorded at frequency rank #30,031, classified as averb, pronounced /ɨˈvɪkt/. evil is at rank #1,859, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈiː.vəl/.
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 31890, this pair ranks #342,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of evict vs evil
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "evict": ct. Private to "evil": l.
"evict" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "evil" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "evict" and "evil" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "evict" or "evil"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "evict" and "evil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "evict" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "evil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "evict" and "evil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erick vs evict". 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 #342,378 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.