Which to use
“devil” is a noun and “dócil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,529
- “devil” frequency rank
- #35,006
- “dócil” frequency rank
- 71535
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devil | dócil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diablo, demonio. | Suave, blando. |
Where the eye mixes devil and dócil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devil with dócil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devil is /ˈdɛv.əl/ while dócil is [ˈd̪osil]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devil is recorded at frequency rank #36,529, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɛv.əl/. dócil is at rank #35,006, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪osil].
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 71535, this pair ranks #27,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of devil vs dócil
Shared letters: dil. Private to "devil": ev. Private to "dócil": có.
"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dócil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devil ← ddevil · debil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devil" and "dócil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "devil" or "dócil"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dócil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devil" and "dócil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs devil". 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 #27,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.