déviancevsdeviceWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“déviance” and “device” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,404
“déviance” frequency rank
#43,381
“device” frequency rank
86785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déviance device
Definition Transgression des normes sociales en vigueur. Dispositif, appareil.

Where the eye mixes déviance and device

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

8 ch
déviance
6 ch
device

Why the eye confuses déviance with device

A purely visual mix-up. déviance (\de.vjɑ̃s\) and device (\dɪˈvaɪs\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déviance is recorded at frequency rank #43,404, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.vjɑ̃s\. device is at rank #43,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɪˈvaɪs\.

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 86785, this pair ranks #9,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déviance vs device

Shared letters: cdeiv. Private to "déviance": ané. Private to "device": -.

"déviance" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deviceddevice · deivce · devcie · devicce · deviec · devvice · dveice · edvice

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déviance" and "device" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.vjɑ̃s\ versus \dɪˈvaɪs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "déviance" or "device"?
"device" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,381 in our French list, against #43,404 for "déviance". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "déviance" and "device" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déviance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "device" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déviance" and "device" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déviance vs déviants". 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 #9,182 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list