decidvsdevilWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: decid is a verb, devil is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decid” is a verb and “devil” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,228
“decid” frequency rank
#36,529
“devil” frequency rank
76757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decid devil
Definition Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del imperativo afirmativo de decir. Diablo, demonio.

Where the eye mixes decid and devil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
decid
5 ch
devil

Why the eye confuses decid with devil

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decid is [d̪eˈsið̞] while devil is /ˈdɛv.əl/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decid is recorded at frequency rank #40,228, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞]. devil is at rank #36,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɛv.əl/.

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 76757, this pair ranks #17,161 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decid vs devil

Shared letters: dei. Private to "decid": c. Private to "devil": lv.

"decid" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deciddceid · ddecid · deccid · decdi · decidd · deicd · desid · edcid
  • devilddevil · debil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decid" and "devil" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decid" is a verb and "devil" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decid" or "devil"?
"devil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,529 in our Spanish list, against #40,228 for "decid". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,161 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decid" and "devil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decid vs deli". 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 #17,161 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list